Denton, Md. —Tanglewood Conservatories Inc., already well known for its tantalizingly rich creations of nineteenth-century glass architecture, announces the introduction of its new line of Upscale Botanical and Palm Houses. Alan Stein, president and co-founder of Tanglewood remarks that “These structures are clearly intended to be a direct throwback to the exotic steel and glass botanical buildings that became so popular during the late nineteenth-century”.

Targeted at the top end of the market, these custom-designed wood, glass and steel structures can serve as fully functional greenhouses, botanical display houses or exotic sunroom additions for Tanglewood’s discerning clientele.

“I don’t know that these sort of structures have been built anywhere in the world for over a hundred years”, Stein remarked. Originally made possible by technological advances in steel and glass production that came out of the Industrial Revolution, conservatories began to fall out of favor in the twentieth-century due in large part to the tremendous expense of maintaining them.

In recent years however, conservatories, sunrooms and greenhouses have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, particularly as upscale home additions, since such materials as insulated glass have made them much more practical.

However, a typical modern conservatory is mainly a stylized architectural “interpretation” of its antecedents, the degree of direct relation depending upon the skill of the designer and the level of commitment to its authenticity by the manufacturer. In contrast, the new series of Tanglewood’s creations are far closer to the originals than has been possible to find until now.

“We have literally revived building techniques that haven’t been used since the original great glass conservatories were constructed”, says Stein. “For example, a recent project was designed using hundreds of small panes of overlapping glass on its roof to form the curvature of a large dome.” “The shingle-like pieces of glass were each hand cut to fit the intricate framework”.

Other features that are often incorporated into these conservatories include exposed cast iron, decorative steel structural frames and intricately patterned stained glass.

The cost of this innovation is not insignificant. With a typical palm house conservatory ranging from several hundred thousand dollars to well over several million, these monumental glass artifacts are clearly not for everyone.

Recently I watched "Caddyshack." Again. That's why I stopped in the middle of a story I was reading about why kids curse at npr.org. I ran across the following line:

"Chevy Chase, Md., resident Sarah Pekkanen is…"

What's that? Chevy Chase is a city? No way! Is it named after the actor? Does he live there? Is it a joke written by the author of this article? Is it a mistake? What's happening???!!

So I looked it up, and found out at publicignoramus.blogspot.com that Chevy Chase the actor achieved his name through circumstances completely unrelated to the naming of Chevy Chase the town.

From the comments: "The town in Maryland's name came from a larger area called 'Cheivy Chace.' (the bank is named after the town). the actor's is a family nickname and refers to an ancestor who repelled an English invasion at the Battle of 'Cheviot Hills.'"

That's wild. The more you know…

I just watched a “Little Bush” cartoon episode featuring the use of massive doses of prescription medications. It was a wild and wacky time when the kids started taking pills. Let’s see, little George became a friendly yes-man, little Condi became angry, and little Cheney became a hippy! Honestly, it’s crazy what’s on TV these days.

The older “George Bush” took something that increased his testosterone. Basically, it acted like Viagra and created a crude and unfortunate situation for him.

But some people really do need the stuff. If you’d like to buy Viagra online, you might try eDrugstore.md. I just found out that the .md extension is really representative of Moldova. But it has also been used for medical things, and for the state of Maryland.

Anyhoo, eDrugstore.md is a company that establishes itself as a provider of name brand prescription medications only. No generics! And they guarantee the lowest prices around (that is, online).

On “Little Bush,” the kids had to go see a doctor in person to get their pills. Now we don’t have to! They also noticed a huge price differential between the U.S. and Canada. But thanks to the internet and competition, prices should be at a decent level no matter where you are when you log on.