Calvin and Hobbes
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Talk about traffic jams and gridlock ????
Eye-Catching Excitement
Arctic Summer Sea Ice 2008: Update
On August 6th, I posted a a status report on summer sea ice conditions in the Arctic and the possibility that it might be better than last year's all-time record low. Here's an update from the Associated Press:According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is at its second lowest level in nearly 30 years and with three weeks left in the Arctic summer, this year could wind up breaking last September's all-time record. Arctic ice melts in the summer and refreezes in the winter but more and more ice is being lost to the sea and not recovered in the winter. Ice reflects the sun's heat while the open ocean absorbs more heat and the melting accelerates warming in other parts of the world.
"We could very well be in that quick slide downward in terms of passing a tipping point," said senior scientist Mark Serreze at the data center. The melting causes "Arctic amplification" where the warming up north is increased in a feedback mechanism and the effects spill southward in the autumn as more warm water releases more heat into the air, making the atmosphere warmer than normal. "Climate warming is coming larger and faster than the models are predicting," Serreze said.
The condition of the Arctic Circle is a perfect barometer for what lies ahead in southern climates. We must pay attention.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Aston Martin Rapide
Honda's Mystery Hybrid ?????
We don’t know what to call it; we don’t know what it looks like. But we do know that Honda has said “Prius-Schmius” and will field a cheap, high-mileage hybrid that will seat four or five and cost less that Toyota’s beloved eco-dumpling. Honda will also field a zippier hybrid based on its CR-Z (pictured) and, in 2010, a Hybrid Fit.
Emerging Architect
Xu Tiantian is founding principal of DnA Design and Architecture, an interdisciplinary practice of city planning, urban design, and architectural design based in Beijing and Issaquah, WA. The office’s projects address “new relationships between architecture and urbanism in contemporary culture” particularly in the “interaction of program and context.” Recent projects include the Ordos Art Museum, Inner Mongolia; Xiaopu Culture Center, Beijing; Songzhuang Art Centre; Jinhua Architecture Park Public Toilet; public activity centers in Baixi Resort, Changbai Mountain; and private residences in Tokyo and Seattle.Xu received her B.Arch from Tsinghua University in Beijing and her MAUD from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. She has taught at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) School of Architecture in Beijing and has been a guest critic at numerous schools including Peking University and Tokyo Chiba Institute of Technology. Shown above is her proposal for a visitors' center in Baixi.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Understanding Apex Predators: the truth shall set them free
In making a case for conservation and protection of important predators, we must always stick to the facts, understanding the true role and behavior of the animal in question. In generating sympathy for the animal's plight, we must not succumb to the temptation to paint an alternative distorted image that decieves the public and does not do justice to the complexity and balance of Nature's eco-systems.Tonight, Animal Planet is airing "The Grizzly Man Diaries" about Timothy Treadwell, the young man who spent many years closely observing Grizzly Bears in the wild and promoting these apex predators of the forest as benevolent creatures, communing with them on a quasi-spiritual level. In posturing these important animals outside of their role as predators, he and his girlfriend paid the ultimate price as they were attacked and killed by a bear who was probably on the hunt and whose natural predatory instincts kicked in.
I have seen this same sort of misrepresentation by some well-meaning but misguided shark advocates. We must not swing the pendulum from one extreme - as malevolent man-eaters - to another extreme - as innocent puppy dogs. This does a disservice to these predators and assumes that the public is unable to appreciate these animals for the critical role they play.
And it can put people in harm's way, people who have chosen to enter the natural domain of these animals with a misguided understanding of the role and behavior of an apex predator. In interacting with sharks, eco-tourism/shark diving operations have a responsibility to do so in a controlled environment. And the print and broadcast media have a responsibility to present these animals in their proper context.
It is abundantly clear that the populations of many of our larger species of reef and pelagic sharks are being decimated in staggering proportions. But to combat that commercial slaughter, we must not resort to "humanizing" these animals. In a Los Angeles Times review of the Treadwell program, staff writer Mary McNamara wrote:
"..it is impossible to walk away from "The Grizzly Man Diaries" without thinking about the place of humans in the natural world, of how we impose our definitions of love and friendship on creatures who may not be able to reciprocate and why we need to do so at all."
The truth is, one, animals like large sharks and grizzly bears are magnificent, beautiful creatures worthy of our awe and respect. And two, they play a critical role in maintaining the health and balance of the natural ecosystems in which they exist. And three, they are apex predators - and because of that, if we interact with them, either deliberately or accidentally, we must understand their natural behavior and not unfairly "humanize" them. If we do not, we misrepresent them and ultimately betray their cause for survival.
Check your local TV listings for air dates of "The Grizzly Man Diaries."
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Civil War Re-Enactment
Visit Huntington Beach and tour large scale Confederate and Union encampments as more than 200 re-enactors stage famous battles of the Civil War. The two-day event includes live canon and weapon demonstrations, actors in full costume, food vendors and a Civil War-era band.On Saturday the first battle will be at 1:30 p.m. and the second at 4 p.m. Sunday features a church service at 9 a.m. then a battle at 11 a.m. and another one at 2 p.m. Admission is free.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tigers: another priceless predator that needs our help
Stepping on to dry land for a moment, there are other predators besides sharks that are being threatened. Tigers are certainly in that category - there are less than 5,000 tigers left in the wild. Much like the shark fishing/finning industry, there is a clandestine black market industry that feeds an Asian market for tiger parts - a market with a long cultural history, but one that can be changed with continued vigilance.The future of the tiger rests in the efforts of governments to prohibit and enforce against illegal poaching, for international cooperation in curtailing illegal trafficking, and for conservation organizations to continue their efforts to educate the public to curtail demand. One of the great dilemmas faced by many endangered animals like tigers, mountain gorillas, and sharks is that as their numbers become more scarce their black market value increases, making the poacher more embolden and willing to defy the law.
WildAid is one of the leading organizations dedicated to ending the trade in endangered animals. They have an excellent video that covers the issue regarding tigers. Take a look.
Tigers, like sharks, are both beautiful predators and vital to the health of the ecosystems within which they live. Support WildAid's efforts to curb the tiger trade.
SharkDivers.com: consulting on the future of shark eco-tourism
"The times, they are a-changing." There seems to be a subtle but growing shift in strategy among many conservation organizations. In the face of past regulations/prohibitions or designated protected areas for endangered animals that have often proven less successful due to lack of resources for effective enforcement, greater attention is being turned towards eco-tourism as a means of increasing public support and providing a more attractive economic model for government and commercial entities to endorse.I have been honored to assist SharkDivers.com with providing consulting expertise for shark tourism and the film/television industry. As a marketing communications and media production professional, I look forward to the opportunity to advance the cause of responsible shark eco-tourism as a means of providing effective support to shark conservation.
As new strategies emerge, there will be challenges to address - ecological impact, potential behavioral changes, shifts in third world economies, tourist/diver impact, safety issues for both people and animals, and more. But shark tourism - carefully planned - holds great promise. It can generate enlightenment in people, preserve marine ecosystems that depend on their predators as vital members of the aquatic community, and it can provide economic proof that a living shark is infinitely more valuable than a dead one.
Amid the rubble -- double trouble
A Barack Obama lookalike has been turning heads in Denver but Gerardo Puisseaux is in actual fact a Cuban immigrant from Miami.Puisseaux was a construction worker until six weeks ago when he was hired by Spanish-language news channel America TeVe (www.americateve.com).
In his new guise as a budding television star, Puisseaux goes wherever Obama goes, causing confusion all round.
"Sometimes I get tired because everybody stopping me, a lot of questions, sometimes political questions," he told The Rocky Mountain News.
"I am not Obama."
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Dr. Lark.com: Losing sharks for a bottle of moisturizer
Dr. Susan Lark is an online entrepreneur in the beauty and skin care products industry. Her web site, www.drlark.com, offers a range of products. Of particular note is a moisturizer called Ocean Actives Deep Water Squalane. Its key active ingredient is squalane - derived from sharks, particularly deep water sharks. The company claims the squalane is procured from sharks taken as part of the orange roughy fishery. But a comparable substitute is available as a byproduct from olives.Like many sharks, deep water sharks are very susceptiple to overfishing due to their slow reproductive rates. Not to mention the fact that the orange roughy fishing industry engages in very destructive techniques that damage the sea floor and ensare nearly anything in the path of the nets. And since there is a suitable substitute ingredient derived from olives, it makes little sense to add to the slaughter of deep water sharks and other marine life.
Oceana.org has set up a page in their web site where you can send Dr.Lark.com a loud and clear email (click here). Check it out and let's get one more commercial enterprise on the side of marine conservation.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Little League . . . Big Effort
Tokyo Japan's Takumi Ozeki pitches to Lake Charles, Louisiana in the consolation game of the Little League Baseball World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania August 24, 2008. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES)
An automobile that emits virtually nothing but water vapor
BMW claims "Our long-term EfficientDynamics strategy can be summed up with one vehicle: the BMW Hydrogen 7. As the world's first luxury performance sedan with hydrogen drive, it runs on the most plentiful element in the world and emits virtually nothing but water vapor. And because the infrastructure for refueling a hydrogen internal combustion engine is not yet complete, the V-12 engine also runs on gasoline at the push of a button, though emissions will result. But all it takes is the power of the Hydrogen 7's 12-cylinder, 260 horsepower engine to prove the capability of our EfficientDynamics. The BMW Hydrogen 7 is not available for purchase at this time, but is considered to be a milestone in bringing forward hydrogen as the sustainable fuel for individual transportation." "On a global level, hydrogen technology addresses the growing gaps in the supply of fossil fuels. More specifically, it is the only fuel that can allow for a reduction in the overall emission cycle, while meeting our energy needs in a sustainable way. Besides, not many fuels can be produced from renewable sources such as sun, wind, water and biomass."
Save Our State Parks Campaign
In response to the Governor's January 10 proposal to close 48 state parks and reduce lifeguard staffing on 16 state beaches, the Foundation quickly developed a statewide campaign to generate attention about the proposal and mobilize Californians to oppose the draconian measure. To see how you can help keep State Parks front and center in our legislator's minds when they are crafting California's budget, click on the link below:"The Lost Spy" by Andrew Meier
ON THE night of Feb. 20, 1939, three Soviet secret policemen knocked on a door at the Hotel Moskva in the Russian capital, asked to see the (fake) passport of its occupant, gave him a few minutes to gather some belongings and whisked him away to the notorious Lubyanka prison. Charged with espionage, he was questioned for almost a year before being sentenced to eight years in Norilsk, a mining center hundreds of miles above the Arctic Circle and one of the bleakest islands in the Gulag Archipelago. So far, so routine. Something like this occurred to millions of Russians during Stalin's paranoid regime. But this arrestee was different. He was an American citizen named Isaiah Oggins. And he was not spying for his native land. Since the 1920s, he had been a Russian spy, working in several countries, including his own. Andrew Meier's "The Lost Spy," a biography of Oggins, is, necessarily, a little vague on those matters. Putting it mildly, it is not in the nature of a secret agent's work to leave an easily documented record of his clandestine activities.
Nevertheless, "The Lost Spy" is utterly fascinating, a sad and sinuous study of true belief carried beyond all reason by a man who committed himself to the labyrinthine way without once, so far as Meier can determine, openly discussing what motivated him or offering an ideological rationale. That makes him, in some sense, a perfect spy, a guy who took his secrets with him to his unmarked grave.
From the John Kobal photography collection
Katharine Hepburn, by Ernest Bachrach, in 1935. "What was unique about Hollywood photography is that the stars would work with the same photographers over and over again," Kobal Foundation Chairman Simon Crocker said. "There was a trust. They knew that the studio's only job was to make them look fabulous."Sunday, August 24, 2008
"Richard Ehrlich photographs an archive of Holocaust cruelty"
FOURTEEN months ago, Richard Ehrlich left his office at the UCLA Medical Center, flew to Berlin and rented the best digital camera available. With the 39-megapixel Hasselblad safely stowed, he drove about 250 miles to the small town of Bad Arolsen and found his way to the International Tracing Service.Ehrlich, a veteran urological surgeon with a second career in photography, had pulled plenty of strings to take pictures in the sprawling, six-building complex. But what he found was beyond comprehension: 50 million documents of Nazi atrocities in the world's largest Holocaust archive.
The vast repository would become the subject of hundreds of photographs, shot over seven intensely focused days and winnowed to a 54-image portfolio. He started in June 2007 and returned in September, taking long views of the storage system and close-ups of individual items, including Oskar Schindler's list of people who escaped death by working in his factory, a pile of snapshots confiscated from prisoners, badges that Jews were forced to wear, the order that sent Anne Frank to Bergen Belsen, where she died in 1945.
If the records and artifacts were placed side by side, Ehrlich says, they would form a 16-mile path into the minds and practices of Adolf Hitler's followers, who attempted to eradicate Jews and others deemed defective or undesirable. The materials -- divided into sections on incarceration, forced labor and migration -- are stored on shelves and in cabinets, arranged in neat rows in a former military facility.
Orderliness -- "the banality of evil," as Ehrlich calls it, quoting author Hannah Arendt -- is part of the story.
"Taking a Break"
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, which whisks visitors 2 ½ miles up Chino Canyon, north of the city, will close Sept. 8, 2008, for annual maintenance. It is scheduled to reopen Sept. 27, although visitors should call ahead to be sure. For Labor Day weekend, the tram begins running at 8 a.m. daily, and the last tram from the top leaves at 9:45 p.m. Tickets cost $22.25 for adults and $15.25 for children 3 to 12. Info: (760) 325-1391.Hotel with a past . . .
This is what the Willard, now the Willard InterContinental, looks like today. The term "lobbyist" was coined here.(Willard InterContinental)
The Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., circa 1900s, sits at Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th St. NW.(Willard InterContinental)
Lobby of the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., in the 1900s.(Willard InterContinental)
The modern-day look of the Willard Hotel's lobby.(Willard InterContinental)
1952 was a long time ago
Foshay Tower Caught in the Middle
Mary Tyler Moore Immortalized
Who can turn the world on with her smile? Mary Tyler Moore in bronze. Her famous hat toss — as seen in the intro to her 1970s TV show — is immortalized in downtown Minneapolis. The Republican convention is set to begin, but for visitors of any political stripe, Minnesota’s fraternal twins — Minneapolis and St. Paul — have much to offer.(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
La Miniatura
Did you ever wonder ???
HOW CAN we explain the incompetence, the scandals, the corruption, the waste, the giveaways, the bridges to nowhere and the no-bid contracts in Washington, D.C., today? "Fantastic misgovernment of the kind we have seen is not an accident," Thomas Frank writes in "The Wrecking Crew," "nor is it the work of a few bad individuals." Those who run our government "have not done these awful things because they are bad conservatives; they have done them because they are good conservatives." They want government to fail, he argues, because that gives them a stronger argument for cutting regulations and taxes that reduce corporate profits. Some may see this as a powerful argument for electing Democrats this November.
All things come to an end
"The Fabled California Zephyr"
California Zephyr Railcar Charters owns and Operates Three Historic Passenger Cars. The Silver Lariat, Silver Rapids, and Silver Solarium, were built for the fabled California Zephyr, and were in continuous service from 1948 to 1981. They were purchased from Amtrak in 1985, and upgraded to modern Amtrak standards. These cars are capable of traveling most anywhere in North America, primarily on Amtrak trains or special trains.Patagonia's Grey Glacier
Grey Glacier, Patagonia, ChileGrey Glacier is part of Torres del Paine National Park, which also is home to those jagged peaks you see on the Patagonia clothing logo. The whole area is South America's answer to Alaska -- vast spaces, dramatic seasons, looming mountains, exotic creatures, enormous quantities of ice and water.
A "Solar-Powered" Dream"
BEIJING -- It has the wingspan of a commercial airliner, the weight of an automobile and solar panels to provide enough electricity to light a very large Christmas tree. If this strange contraption actually flies, for some it will be as great a feat as anything achieved at the 2008 Olympics. Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss psychiatrist best known for his 1999 trip around the world in a balloon, is trying to repeat the journey in a solar-powered airplane.
In 1981, U.S. engineer Paul MacCready flew a solar-powered airplane across the English Channel and inventors have been tinkering with the technology ever since. But previous models of solar planes could fly only by day. Piccard and partner Andre Borschberg are developing a prototype at a former military base in Dubendorf, Switzerland. Its wings, which span about 198 feet, are covered with photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity. At night, the plane will run on excess electricity stored in batteries. The engineering challenge is to generate enough power to fly the plane and charge the batteries and to keep the weight under 3,500 pounds, about the same as a mid-size car.
Piccard and Borschberg hope to conduct a test run of the single-pilot plane in the spring and by 2011 have a slightly larger two-pilot version to fly around the world.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
"Flipping Around"
A Los Angeles "Classic"
When it comes to classic Los Angeles roadside attractions, few can top the smiling boy in the red checkered overalls hoisting a towering burger above his shoulder.Aficionados of Bob's Big Boy hamburger chain have been mourning the beloved outpost on Wilshire Boulevard near La Brea Avenue. The Big Boy on Wilshire (above)closed at the end of July and is now more than 80% demolished, said Chris Nichols, chairman emeritus of the Modern Committee of the Los Angeles Conservancy and author of a book on Wayne McAllister, who designed many well-known Big Boy coffee shops.
"Is it possible that Mickey Mouse now belongs to the world ???"
Brand experts reckon his value to today's Walt Disney Co. empire at more than $3 billion. Acts of Congress have extended Mickey's copyright so long that they provoked a Supreme Court challenge, making Mickey the ultimate symbol of intellectual property.All signs pointed to a Hollywood ending with Disney and Mickey Mouse living happily ever after -- at least until a grumpy former employee looked closely at fine print long forgotten in company archives.
Film credits from the 1920s revealed imprecision in copyright claims that some experts say could invalidate Disney's long-held copyright, though a Disney lawyer dismissed that idea as "frivolous."
Although studio executives are not yet hurling themselves from the parapets of Sleeping Beauty's castle, the unexpected discovery raises an intriguing question: Is it possible that Mickey Mouse now belongs to the world -- and that his likeness is usable by anybody for anything?
Sheraton Gateway Hotel sold for $97 million
The Sheraton Gateway Hotel outside Los Angeles International Airport has been sold by Los Angeles real estate developer Kor Hotel Group to a Chicago-area investor for $97 million, a real estate brokerage said Thursday.The recently renovated hotel with 802 guest rooms on West Century Boulevard has been acquired by Harp Group, according to brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, which represented the seller.
"The LAX hotel market has performed extremely well in recent years with occupancies for the major hotels topping 80%," said John Strauss, an executive vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle. Room rates have been rising over the last five years.
It was the third-largest hotel sale in Los Angeles County this year. The Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena -- formerly a Ritz-Carlton -- sold for $165 million, and the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City was acquired for $366.5 million.
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