Look at the mug on this guy!
Hilarious.
The before and after shots are pretty amazing too.
All for a good cause in a good town.
Nice.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
National Geographic Photography Milestones -- National Geographic
National Geographic Photography Milestones -- National Geographic
Love this photo!
Taken in 1925 at the dome room in Carlsbad Caverns.
I stopped in to check out Carlsbad Caverns on my trip this past summer.
It was a little slice of heaven to step out of the +100 degree heat and down into the cool, shadey, 56 degree caverns.
I wish that I was such a clever and inventive writer that I had created this in my mind, but alas, no.
It is real.
It really happened.
BUSINESS
CNN ANCHOR ASKS WITH A STRAIGHT FACE IF GLOBAL WARMING IS TO BLAME FOR ASTEROID
I know that I risk being put into the slot of "climate denier" but seriously folks, there is caring for the environment and then there is just utter nonsense.
I've said many times before that when I graduated high school (by the skin of my teeth btw) I was quite certain that I would soon die because of:
A.) The giant hole in the ozone layer that was bound to scorch the earth and render us all to ashes
B.) Mosquito borne AIDS.
The best and brightest scientists of the day considered both scenarios highly probable.
Turns out all those mean, right wing, conservative haters were right: AIDS, in the U.S. at least, is largely a gay man's disease and if you're not a gay man it's not very likely that you will ever have a problem.
(That is a separate issue than how much funding/importance it should get.)
(That is a separate issue than how much funding/importance it should get.)
When was the last time anyone even mentioned the ozone layer?
Exactly.
My point is that very often the scientific community is overshadowed by people with a political bent.
They have a narrative that they want to tell and the facts will not be allowed to get in their way.
Beware the man with a moral imperative: he truly believes any action is justified in pursuit of those beliefs.
Beware the man with a moral imperative: he truly believes any action is justified in pursuit of those beliefs.
And of course, the more of a "problem" you have, the more money you can get to fix the problem.
Some interesting stories I've seen in the past week or two:
Toxic sludge produced by solar panel manufacturers:
Green power pioneer opposes wind turbines:
Polar Bears - not quite as bad off as previously reported:
I've been looking for some other articles that I seem to have lost.
It's more of the same.
An actual scientist admits that the effect of carbon dioxide may have been over estimated and the effects of solar flaring underestimated. Ya' think?
My point is not that we shouldn't be concerned for the environmnet.
I was a Boy Scout. We always carried more trash out of our campsites than we carried in, leaving the sites in better shape than we arrived. Always.
But, beware of the people who are telling you how big a problem you have when they are the same people selling you the cure.
I had never heard of a Koenigsegg until I saw it on Top Gear this week.
Now I want.
I really, really want this car.
Don't I have a rich uncle somewhere?
Watch the Stig race this car around the Top Gear track on YouTube, right here:
http://youtu.be/4uNbkyNczEA
Saturday, February 9, 2013
I think that since he's opened his house for an interview and pictures, it's okay to tell you that this is the house that SunX US, Inc. worked on for Sir Elton John just a few months ago.
We installed our SunX US Medium UV rejecting film on all windows that you see in these photos.
The house was still under construction when "the Amazing" and I went out so I didn't get to see my new BFF but did have the pleasure of working with his peeps, Christi and Ben, who were awesome.
Gotta say, it's pretty cool to see a house that I worked on in a major magazine.
http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/elton-john-david-furnish-colorful-beverly-hills-pad-232551409.html
More Elton John from Architectural Digest here:
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/celebrity-homes/1993/elton-john-english-country-house-woodside-atlanta-apartment-article
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Happy Eggs' Pancake-omatic
I love Wallace and Gromit!
The guys that do the claymation and stories for them are truly awesome.
And now someone has devised the Happy Eggs Pancake-omatic, inspired by W & G!
Incredible.
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Cracking_contraption_makes_pancakes
A machine that makes pancakes from eggs laid just minutes before has been developed for Shrove Tuesday.
Inspired by the hit cartoon Wallace & Gromit, the cracking contraption aims to make the world's freshest pancake.
Commissioned by the happy egg co, the Pancake-omatic took a team of four design engineers more than 200 hours to construct and a further 100 to test.
The device, which will go on display at the Design Museum later this month, uses a wide selection of household objects including an old-style gramophone and an electric whisk and features a luxury nest throne for the hen to lay her egg in.
The process starts with the hen laying an egg in her five star nest. As the egg rolls down a ramp, it pushes a wooden spoon, which winds up a gramophone.
When the music starts, the egg is dropped into a holder on the spinning record, then swung around and cracked into a bowl containing other pancake ingredients.
The bowl moves down a conveyor belt where the mixture is whisked and then released slowly into a hot pan. The pancake is cooked for 30 seconds, flipped and placed on a plate.
Design engineer Dermot Doyle said: "It's no mean feat to create a machine that will break an egg let alone flip a pancake so this project has been a really exciting challenge for the team.
"We hope we've cracked it and our machine encourages others to make their very own egg-inspired inventions."
A.) It's meat. Meat is good for you.
B.) Horses and cows are nearly identical when you think about it.
Findus beef lasagne contained up to 100% horsemeat, FSA says
The meat content of some beef lasagne products recalled by Findus was up to 100% horsemeat, the Food Standards Agency has said.
Findus withdrew its beef lasagne from retailers in 320g, 360g and 500g sizes on Monday as a precautionary measure.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said it was "completely unacceptable" that a product claiming to beef lasagne turned out to be mainly horsemeat.
Findus said: "We do not believe this to be a food safety issue."'Cannot be tolerated'
The FSA said Findus tested 18 of its beef lasagne products and found 11 meals containing between 60% and 100% horsemeat.
People have been warned not to eat the products, which were made for Findus by French food supplier Comigel.
The FSA said: "We have no evidence to suggest that this is a food safety risk. However, the FSA has ordered Findus to test the lasagne for the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, or 'bute'.
"Animals treated with phenylbutazone are not allowed to enter the food chain as it may pose a risk to human health.
"The Findus beef lasagne was distributed to the main UK supermarkets and smaller convenience stores. Findus has already begun a full recall of these products.
"People who have bought any Findus beef lasagne products are advised not to eat them and return them to the shop they bought them from."
Mr Paterson said the presence of unauthorised ingredients "cannot be tolerated".
"The responsibility for the safety and authenticity of food lies with those who produce it, and who sell or provide it to the final consumer. I know that food producers, retailers and caterers are as concerned as we are at the course of recent events," he said.
"The Food Standards Agency, Defra, and the Department of Health are working closely with businesses and trade bodies along the whole food chain to root out any illegal activity and enforce food safety and authenticity regulations.
"Consumers can be confident that we will take whatever action we consider necessary if we discover evidence of criminality or negligence."
Findus said the product was manufactured by a third party supplier and not by Findus.
The frozen food company said all its other products had been tested and were not affected.
Findus said in a statement: "We understand this it is a very sensitive subject for consumers and we would like to reassure you we have reacted immediately. We do not believe this to be a food safety issue.
"We are confident that we have fully resolved this supply chain issue. Fully compliant beef lasagne will be in stores again soon.
"Consumers who have purchased the product should call our Findus UK Customer Care Line on UK 0800 132584, ROI 1800 800500 or email careline@findus.co.uk for a full refund."National survey
This week supermarket chains Aldi and Tesco, as well as Findus UK, withdrew some beef products from sale after concerns were raised at their French supplier.
Comigel alerted Findus and Aldi that their products "do not conform to specification".
They advised them to remove Findus Beef Lasagne and Aldi's Today's Special Frozen Beef Lasagne and Today's Special Frozen Spaghetti Bolognese.
Tesco also decided to withdraw Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese.
The Tesco product was produced at the same Comigel site but there was no evidence of contamination, the supermarket said.
The wider food contamination controversy arose in mid-January when Irish food inspectors announced they had found horsemeat in some burgers stocked by a number of UK supermarket chains including Tesco, Iceland and Lidl.
Asda has withdrawn products supplied by Newry-based Freeza Meats which was storing meat found to contain a high proportion of horse DNA. Two samples were found to contain 80% horsemeat.
The horsemeat controversy has hit the Irish meat-processing industry, with a number of suppliers on both sides of the border affected.
The FSA said it would co-ordinate a UK-wide survey of beef products to test for the possible presence of horse or pig DNA.
There will be "additional emphasis on brands at the lower end of the market, particularly for burger-type products," it said.
Twenty-eight local authorities across the UK will take a total of 224 samples, and results are due to be published in April.
The survey "aims to identify and understand factors that may lead to the presence of meat species that are not labelled as an ingredient, so that this can be explained, eliminated or correctly labelled".
Officer, I have never seen this parrot in my life!
A parrot that boosts wallets from tourists?
What will they think of next, a squirrel that can water-ski!?!
http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-blog/carry-on/2013/2/6/jailbird-parrot-robs-tourist-in-new-zealand
What will they think of next, a squirrel that can water-ski!?!
http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-blog/carry-on/2013/2/6/jailbird-parrot-robs-tourist-in-new-zealand
Shaky Knees Festival just announced!
This looks like it could be pretty cool.
I saw The Roadkill Ghost Choir recently and they were pretty cool and Ms. X and I saw Band of Horses and The Lumineers last year and both were excellent in concert.
Good times.
Shaky Knees Music Festival
Atlanta will welcome a brand new music event, Shaky Knees Music Festival, to the Historic Fourth Ward Park and the Masquerade Music Park on May 4 and 5th. The two-day festival will feature 28 bands across three outdoor stages as well as local food trucks, artisans and vendors. Two-day general admission tickets as well as VIP passes go on sale on February 7 at Ticketmaster.
The lineup for Shaky Knees includes everything from up-and-comers The Orwells to “Best New Artist” Grammy nominees The Lumineers, with an eclectic lineup that includes Band of Horses, Jim James, Welsh rockers the Joy Formidable, Kurt Vile & the Violators and more. Curated by longtime Atlanta promoter Tim Sweetwood, the fest offers live music fans two days of music in an urban outdoor setting.
“I’m not trying to appeal to every music fan or break into territory that has already been well covered by other festivals,” Sweetwood says. “I’d love for people to be able to find enough of a connection in the lineup to be familiar with several of the artists. But I wanted to offer enough of a range musically that they could get turned on to an artist they might never have heard of but end up loving.”
Though the Masquerade Music Park has hosted concerts and festivals for years, including The Lumineers’ sold-out Atlanta show last fall; this will be the first major festival in the recently completed Historic Fourth Ward Park that runs adjacent to The Masquerade club.
“The Historic Fourth Ward Park Conservancy and Atlanta BeltLine did such an amazing job putting together the park and it’s brought so much more life to the area,” Sweetwood says. “We’re really excited and grateful to be able to have access to the park’s event lawn for our festival site.”
Shaky Knees‘ inaugural lineup will feature headliners The Lumineers and Band of Horses as well as Jim James, Drive By Truckers, Gary Clark Jr., Lucero, Dr. Dog, Delta Spirit, The Antlers, Kurt Vile & The Violators, The Black Angels, The Joy Formidable, Heartless Bastards, Oberhofer, Frontier Ruckus, Murder By Death, Shovels & Rope, Moon Taxi, GOAT, Hanni El Khatib, The Orwells, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Vintage Trouble, Robert Ellis, You Me & Apollo, Roadkill Ghost Choir, T. Hardy Morris and Death On Two Wheels.
I saw The Roadkill Ghost Choir recently and they were pretty cool and Ms. X and I saw Band of Horses and The Lumineers last year and both were excellent in concert.
Good times.
Shaky Knees Music Festival
Atlanta will welcome a brand new music event, Shaky Knees Music Festival, to the Historic Fourth Ward Park and the Masquerade Music Park on May 4 and 5th. The two-day festival will feature 28 bands across three outdoor stages as well as local food trucks, artisans and vendors. Two-day general admission tickets as well as VIP passes go on sale on February 7 at Ticketmaster.
The lineup for Shaky Knees includes everything from up-and-comers The Orwells to “Best New Artist” Grammy nominees The Lumineers, with an eclectic lineup that includes Band of Horses, Jim James, Welsh rockers the Joy Formidable, Kurt Vile & the Violators and more. Curated by longtime Atlanta promoter Tim Sweetwood, the fest offers live music fans two days of music in an urban outdoor setting.
“I’m not trying to appeal to every music fan or break into territory that has already been well covered by other festivals,” Sweetwood says. “I’d love for people to be able to find enough of a connection in the lineup to be familiar with several of the artists. But I wanted to offer enough of a range musically that they could get turned on to an artist they might never have heard of but end up loving.”
Though the Masquerade Music Park has hosted concerts and festivals for years, including The Lumineers’ sold-out Atlanta show last fall; this will be the first major festival in the recently completed Historic Fourth Ward Park that runs adjacent to The Masquerade club.
“The Historic Fourth Ward Park Conservancy and Atlanta BeltLine did such an amazing job putting together the park and it’s brought so much more life to the area,” Sweetwood says. “We’re really excited and grateful to be able to have access to the park’s event lawn for our festival site.”
Shaky Knees‘ inaugural lineup will feature headliners The Lumineers and Band of Horses as well as Jim James, Drive By Truckers, Gary Clark Jr., Lucero, Dr. Dog, Delta Spirit, The Antlers, Kurt Vile & The Violators, The Black Angels, The Joy Formidable, Heartless Bastards, Oberhofer, Frontier Ruckus, Murder By Death, Shovels & Rope, Moon Taxi, GOAT, Hanni El Khatib, The Orwells, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Vintage Trouble, Robert Ellis, You Me & Apollo, Roadkill Ghost Choir, T. Hardy Morris and Death On Two Wheels.
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