INTO THE WILD / STREAKER WATCH

PM: South Pole Amundsen-Scott Research Station
The Coolest Building On Earth
Deep in the heart of Antarctica, rugged workers endure frigid temperatures and exhausting altitude to construct a new research station. The finished product will support some of the most vital science of our time.
[snip]
The incredibly remote location and extreme conditions make building Amundsen-Scott the closest earthbound job to constructing the International Space Station. Supplies are carried 9000 miles by ship from California to New Zealand to McMurdo--the main U.S. station on the Ross Sea coast. They are then flown 850 miles to the South Pole in a ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules aircraft.
[snip]
There's even a sauna, to perpetuate a hallowed South Pole tradition--the 300 Club. Members wait until the temperature drops below minus 100 F, steam themselves in a 200 F sauna and streak naked (except for boots) out of the station and around the Pole marker.

John Lennon - Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young



A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear



And so this is Christmas ................... War is over
For weak and for strong ....................If you want it
For rich and the poor ones ................War is over
The road is so long ..............................Now
And so happy Christmas ...................War is over
For black and for white ......................If you want it
For yellow and red ones ....................War is over
Let's stop all the fight .........................Now


And so this is Christmas.....................War is over
And what have we done.....................If you want it
Another year over...............................War is over
And a new one just begun..................Now
And so happy Christmas....................War is over
I hope you have fun............................If you want it
The near and the dear one................War is over
The old and the young.......................Now



War is over if you want it
War is over now

John Lennon Yoko Ono War Is Over

Imagine if John Lennon hadn’t been assassinated 25 years ago … what would he make of our troubled world? - [Sunday Herald]

RIP MIX BURN: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

GIANT ROBOTS!

A few flaws but overall a visual feast... fun film for a sick day. Virtually everything behind, around the actors was digitally created. Even the actors themselves were filmed orignally in color, converted to black and white then re-colorized. Unlike George Lucas's digital mess in Episodes 1-3, this one actually works most of the time.

How does a P-40 Warhawk fly through the canyons of Manhattan like it's an X-Wing? I'm not an aviation expert but... I think there was some wishful thinking in the way that plane banked through the turns... the physics seemed off. I know: critizing the physics of a flim that features Giant Robots! Nitpicky indeed!

Geek references - two I spotted (probably tons more):

Godzilla silhouette in a newspaper shot of Tokyo and in one of the undersea scenes, the sunken ship "Venture" - from the original 1933 King Kong.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow


IMDB: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

RIP MIX BURN

Speak To Me/Breathe
On The Run
Time
The Great Gig In The Sky
Money
Us And Them
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse



"run rabbit run"

this morning in the car

NPR : More 'PostSecrets' Revealed, in Book Form
Weekend Edition - Saturday, December 10, 2005 · In November of 2004, Frank Warren invited strangers to anonymously write their secrets on postcards and mail them to his Maryland home. He's received over 10,000 secrets from around the world.

Now, 300 of the darkest and most outlandish secrets (one example: "Sometimes I wish I had lung cancer so my mom would quit smoking") have been collected in a new book, PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives.

PostSecret

NPR : Out of India, Via Canada: 'Kiran Ahluwalia'
Canadian singer Kiran Ahluwalia's self-titled CD celebrates traditional Indian songs called ghazals. Ahluwalia left India as a girl.

The Connection.org : Kiran Ahluwalia: "Lyrical, delicate and powerful, ghazals are poems set to music. They were created in Persia 1,000 years ago and traveled to India 400 years later. Although most are ballads, some can be danced to, and they all have to do with love: falling in and out of it, flirting, melancholy, or even the love of one's land. "

KILT WATCH

HOW TO BUY...
A Kilt in Scotland

Step one: Build the courage to show off those knobby knees.

Mike Elkin September 2005 issue

Traditions and Tartans
A traditional Scottish kilt is made with eight yards of material--always 100 percent wool. It should sit high on the waist (a couple inches higher than a pants belt), with the bottom edge at the center of the knee. It'll cost $400 to $700. Eight-yard kilts weigh a heavy six pounds and swing rhythmically when marching or dancing. Four-yard, or casual, kilts use half the material and cost less, but they can look and feel flimsy. Even so, casual and traditional kilts are generally acceptable at both formal and informal events. The kilt's color and design are known as the tartan. It can represent a family name, sports team, university, or regional group known as a clan. You can search through more than 3,000 patterns at tartans.scotland.net. It's customary for people of Scottish ancestry to wear a related tartan; some families have several to choose from. Another option is to wear one of the many universal tartans, such as Brown Watch or the Great Scot. For that matter, it's OK for anyone to wear just about any tartan. No one will be offended if you're not a member of the clan. Whatever kilt you choose, be sure that the pattern of the tartan matches up perfectly across the pleats (always worn in the back).



Accessories
Kilts don't have pockets, so the sporran--a small bag that hangs at the waist in front of the groin--is used for keys, money, and often a flask. Leather sporrans are most common; prices start at $75. Any sporran goes with any tartan. Next up in importance are hose, which come up to three fingers below the kneecap; ribbons around the top of the hose known as garter flashes; and decorative daggers called sgian dubh (skee-in dooh). Traditional shirts, jackets, and shoes--expected only at formal events--can be rented, so think before buying. At black-tie galas, the choices are a tuxedo shirt, worn with a bow tie, jacket, and vest, or a fluffy shirt with a cravat (à la Austin Powers) that's also worn with a jacket. Ghillie brogues, the tongueless shoes that go with the outfit, have laces that wrap around the ankle and tie in front. At casual events, put on wool socks, hiking boots, and a rugby shirt, T-shirt, or sweater. To dress up a little, try a Jacobite shirt with baggy sleeves and tight cuffs.

Kilt Makers
For around $450, you can buy top-notch kilts from seamstresses who run stores, such as Rhoda Fraser (in Dingwall, near Inverness), or make kilts in their homes, like Pat Duffy (south of Edinburgh, in Peebles). Stores in Edinburgh sell packages: $875 and up buys a kilt, jacket, vest, sgian dubh, sporran, hose, and flashes. # Rhoda Fraser 5 Tulloch St., Dingwall, 011-44/134-986-4188 # Pat Duffy Hayfield Pl., Cross Road, Peebles, 011-44/172-172-1506

"I do believe he was in over his kilt."

GIANT SHARK WATCH

Inquest finds man died from shark attack.
Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia
"A witness to the attack, Rodney Plug, told the inquest the shark was
at least six metres long."



Tagged whale shark likely eaten in Indonesia.

A whale shark tagged with a tracking device off north-west Western Australia is believed to have been caught and eaten in Indonesia.

Satellite data has shown the electronic tracking device attached to the seven-and-a-half metre whale shark, off Ningaloo, has been on land for more than three months on an Indonesian island.

The animal was being tracked in a joint project involving the WA Government.

WA Tourism Minister Mark McGowan says the whale shark seems to have been killed by villagers.

"We were aware of evidence before this that they were being destroyed and eaten by people in the countries to our north," Mr McGowan said.

"This appears to confirm that and what it means is there needs to be international action to protect these creatures.

"They deserve the opportunity to survive and we do need to negotiate an international treaty to protect them and our tourism industry."

Mr McGowan says it is a tragedy for the environment and the tourism industry.

"[We need to] protect and preserve this incredibly important species so that future generations can have the opportunity to see these beautiful creatures," he said.

RIP MIX BURN

System of a Down - Hypnotize
Queens of the Stone Age - Over the Years and Through the Woods
The Darkness - One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back
Madeleine Peyroux - Careless Love
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema & Electric Version
Big Star - #1 Record / Radio City
Original Soundtrack - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
Bob Marley & the Wailers - Legend
Damian Marley - Welcome to Jamrock
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail Of Dead - Worlds Apart
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl

plus www.kexp.org and some of the time www.kplu.org

GIANT SHARK WATCH

"The world’s largest aquarium has sparked a heated debate among marine experts over its decision to display whale sharks and beluga whales in its tanks. The 500,000 square-foot Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, which opened in November 2005, is holding two juvenile whale sharks in captivity as well as five beluga whales.



Georgia Aquarium holds eight million gallons of water and is home to more than 100,000 marine species, including whale sharks which could grow up to more than 15m-long. This is the first time the world's largest fish has been placed in captivity outside Asia."
.
DIVE Latest News - World's largest shark held in aquarium
.
Georgia Aquarium

Rot in Peace

"a slide-show essay about what's gained when abandoned structures are allowed to decay"
Rot in Peace - Putting old buildings and settlements to rest. By Caitlin DeSilvey

server error

Going to shut this one down for awhile.

If you know me, you'll know where to find me.


--------------------------
The emperor, who was a devout Buddhist, invited a great Zen master to the Palace in order to ask him questions about Buddhism. "What is the highest truth of the holy Buddhist doctrine?" the emperor inquired.

"Vast emptiness... and not a trace of holiness," the master replied.

"If there is no holiness," the emperor said, "then who or what are you?"

"I do not know," the master replied.

GIANT SHARK WATCH: False Bay, South Africa

The great White shark tagged off Bailey's Cottage between St James and Muizenberg on Saturday, spent much of yesterday morning cruising slowly in circles off Muizenberg beach.

But at other times during the 24-hour period after its tagging, the 4.3-metre predator moved quite quickly several times between Bailey's Cottage and Sunrise Beach, researchers reported.

[looking for a mid-morning snack]

"The main objectives of this study are to investigate if white sharks are permanent or seasonal residents in False Bay, if there are any preferred areas where they occur, if they form social groups, if they prey in the bay and if they do, where and on what," said Environmental Affairs spokeswoman Carol Moses.

"It will further explore if there are any times of the day that the sharks prefer to be inshore and the importance of Seal Island to the white sharks, if there are any possible stimuli that increase shark aggression that could lead to an attack on humans, the abundance of sharks, if there are seasonal trends in the number of sharks in the bay, and general behaviour of white sharks."

A genetic study is also under way with the University of Aberdeen in Scotland to determine if there is only a single population of white sharks in the southern hemisphere.

The larger study has indicated that the "South African" white shark moves widely - they tracked one, named Nicole, from Gansbaai to Australia and back - and is under threat on the high seas and in countries which do not protect them.

Cape Argus - Warning to bathers as sharks hit False Bay in large numbers

images by Jack Lord

SPAM WATCH

BARRISTER PHILIP OKON & CHAMBERS
Solicitors & Advocates
(Notary Public)
Of The Supreme Court of Nigeria
Our Ref: TOB/AT LAW/1717/2005
ADDRESS: N0 35 Saint Street Aguda Lagos Nigeria

DEAR BENEFICIARY

RE: Notification of Bequest
With gratitude to God to a life well spent and on behalf of my late client Rev. Dr. JOHN OKONKWO, I write to notify you that my late client made you a beneficiary to the bequest sum of SEVEN Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (USD 700,000.00) in the last codicil to his last WILL and testament of the year 2003.

Late Rev. Dr. JOHN OKONKWO died of high blood pressure on the 2nd February 2004. Until his death, late Rev. Dr. JOHN OKONKWO was a regional director in Nigeria with United Nations Refugees and humanitarian commission.

A renowned PHILANTHROPIST, who has widely travelled and very good Christian of the Christian fellowship of Nigeria. A non denominational society.

According to him he is giving you this amount because of your active involvement in the upliftment of Christian activities with its ministries and making better the world’s situation for the acceptance of Christian religion in Christ Jesus as the son of God.

We the executors and trustees of this WILL wish to inform you that the WILL was read at the High Court probate Division on the 5th June 2004 as the law provides in section (52) sub-section 3&4 of the Nigeria constitution and is ready for execution.You are therefore required by this notification to confirm your ownership to this legacy by forwarding to us immediately via e-mail, your current telephone, e-mail and fax number (private) for easy communication and prompt payment without delay. Your contact address (private) is also required for verification and authentication of the WILL as the law stipulated. A photocopy of your international passport number or drivers licence if available shall be required from you on the day of your payment. This is to avoid paying to a wrong beneficiary. We shall detail you on the procedure involved in executing this will upon the receipt of your prompt e-mail response.

We are sorry for not notifying you by posted mail due to the urgency required in this matter and also your e-mail contact was given to us by the wife of my late client.

Thanks and God bless.
HON.BARRISTER PHILIP OKON
Head of Chamber.

Billboard Watch

OK, it's an ad but still a clever concept.

Counter Counterfeit Commission
"At the CCC, we're dedicated to putting an end to the victimization associated with purchasing a counterfeit MINI Cooper. We cooperate with MINI and international law enforcement to pursue criminals. But there's one other crucial partner we need to recruit: YOU. We can't do this without YOU. Educate yourself about the problem. Learn how to detect a fake. Know when you're being hoodwinked. Together, we can put an end to this appalling injustice. Together, we can make our streets genuine once again."

Also spotted on my streets:

"TRUST US... SHE DOESN'T WANT PAJAMAS"

(billboard for a diamond store)

Envisat Fishes Up Facts Behind Chilean Giant Squid Invasion

The headline is a bit of a misnomer. These are not GIANT SQUID (Architeuthis), these are JUMBO FLYING SQUID (Dosidicus gigas). Everyone knows that, right? However, what a headline if GIANT SQUID really did invade Chile! Make a great B-MOVIE...


Envisat Fishes Up Facts Behind Chilean Giant Squid Invasion
Masses of large ocean-going squid have inundated the shores of Southern Chile, alarming local fishermen who fear these carnivorous invaders could threaten fish stocks. Envisat has helped account for their otherwise mysterious arrival.

These jumbo flying squid – Dosidicus gigas is their Latin name – are some of the largest known squids on the planet: the ones here measure between 70 to 150 centimetres in length, although specimens have been known to reach more than three metres. Making their home in the open ocean, they rise to the surface at night to aggressively feed on small fish using barbed suckers.

hammer

break free

let go

fall apart

GIANT SHARK WATCH: Half Moon Bay, California USA

Tim West, a 25-year-old veteran surfer, narrowly escaped his Nov. 2 encounter with what was almost certainly a great white shark.
[snip]
Sean Van Sommeran, a veteran shark researcher from the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation, said there have been more shark sightings in Northern California this year than any year since he began his research in 1990.

He estimates the shark that attacked West was between 12 and 14 feet long and weighed about a ton.
Half Moon Bay Review

As Half Moon Bay surfers Tim West and Chris Loeswick headed toward the water to surf Maverick’s late Wednesday afternoon, they looked out at the empty, gray, inconsistent lineup and had the same thought: shark.

West tried to laugh it off. “Watch out for strangers,” he told Loeswick, but the toothy vibe persisted through the long paddle, and kept them nervous even after they’d each ridden a wave. Loeswick sat with his legs up on the deck of his board between sets, and West began to wonder: Had they made a mistake trying to surf Maverick’s by themselves on a day when the shark aura was so heavy and the lulls were so long?

Um, yes.

The waves were 10 to 15 feet on the faces, not quite big enough for real Maverick’s, so the pair sat far inside, just beyond the gnarled inside double-up known as Phlegm Balls. On the way back out after his first ride, West saw an outside wave break on the main peak, and he paddled past Loeswick toward it, hoping to dial into at least one legitimate Mav’s drop before dark. He was on his belly, maybe 20 feet from the primary lineup, when the shark slammed into his 10’ 1” Neptune gun from beneath and launched him into the air. He estimates that he flew about 2 feet above the water and 5 feet to his left.

“At first I thought it was a seal or some seaweed or a boil,” West, 25, shaken but otherwise unscathed, said the next day in an interview at his home about a mile from Maverick’s. “Then I saw this gray thing just thrashing by my board. I swam away, to the end of my leash, and all of the sudden the thing disappeared and everything just stopped. It went dead calm. I reeled in my board and just paddled straight toward the reef. I didn’t even care about waves – just get me into the whitewater.”

Loeswick, sitting inside, saw the strike. “I glance up and his board gets shot out of the water, and there’s all this splashing,” Loeswick, 20, said. “It was surreal. I just freaked out and started calling his name: ‘Wwwweeeesssstttt!’ I was stoked to see that he was OK. We both paddled as hard as we could toward the rocks. He was maybe 100 feet farther out than I was, but he was so pumped on adrenalin that he just blew right by me.”

West: “Every stroke, I was thinking my life was over.”

[snip]
Some people are cut out for shark-bite stardom; Tim West is not one of them.

“I don’t want to be known as ‘shark attack guy,’” he said. “I just want to surf Maverick’s.”

If, however, West can manage to make a little money from the mishap, he’s open to suggestions. “If there’s someone who wants to cough up a bunch of cash for an interview or something, I’m down. I’ve got bills to pay.”

He’s also thinking about selling the board, with tooth intact. “I’m thinking eBay. Dude, I might do that. At first I wanted to just fix it and ride it again, but if I could sell for it two grand, I could get like four new boards.”

Surfer Attacked By Great White Shark At Mavericks

STREAKER WATCH: Weymouth, U.K.

Times Online
Taylor strikes twice to save flailing Forest from further torment
By Rick Broadbent
Weymouth Town 0 Nottingham Forest 2

NOTTINGHAM Forest realised that this was a different sort of experience when a rogue streaker breached the last line of defence armed with only an inflatable dolphin, but they managed to salvage some dignity for themselves in this FA Cup first-round replay thanks to a brace of second-half goals from Gareth Taylor.

Staatsbibliothek Watch

 

STREAKER WATCH: Murfreesboro, Tennessee

The Daily News Journal - www.dnj.com -:
"The real performance going on was the streaker who ran across the field in all his glory while his own school band was playing. This, of course, was accompanied by the inevitable police chase, which, of course, was accompanied by a large group (45 or so) of students who were screaming, 'Oakland Power!' as the shivering perpetrator was loaded into the 'paddy wagon.' It's hard not to laugh at the absurdity of that situation."

"Two giant cranes lower a Baldwin steam locomotive weighing 418,000 pounds to the tracks Monday on the Tacoma Tideflats."

Reading 2100 Locomotive

Built: 1923 by the Baldwin Co.; rebuilt in 1945 for the Reading Railroad

Weight: 950 tons when ready to run

Water: 20,000 gallons in main tender, another 23,000 in auxiliary tender

Fuel oil to fire boiler: 5,000 gallons

Last home: Elgin County Railway Museum, Saint Thomas, Ontario

Former owner: Richard Kughn of the Lionel model train company. Kughn reportedly sank $1 million into the 2100 before donating it to an Ohio railroad.

TheNewsTribune.com

INTO THE WILD WATCH

MARYLAND

Florida Boater Is Rescued in Atlantic

ANAPOLIS -- Two Maryland boaters rescued a 49-year-old Florida man whose boat capsized in rough seas about eight miles off Boca Raton.

Rogers Washington said he had been treading water for six hours Tuesday. During that time, he watched his friend succumb to an apparent heart attack, he was approached by a shark, and two other boaters waved at him but refused to pick him up, apparently thinking he was an illegal immigrant.

[nice]

When David Pensky of Annapolis approached Washington after spotting him frantically waving his arms in 7-foot seas, Washington shouted: "I'm an American! I'm an American!" Moments later, Pensky and Richard Holden, 63, of St. Mary's County, noticed the waterlogged fisherman, orange whistle to his lips, floating with the aid of a cooler lid and a small life vest shoved under his arm.

Florida Boater Is Rescued in Atlantic theledger.com

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou