June 2009 – Page 5 – The Unwanted Blog

Sarkozy says burqas are ‘not welcome’ in France

Jun 222009

Wow. This’ll go over well, I’m sure…

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D98VP85G1&show_article=1

In the first presidential address in 136 years to a joint session of France’s two houses of parliament, Sarkozy laid out his support for a ban even before the panel has been approved—braving critics who fear the issue is a marginal one and could stigmatize Muslims in France.

Ummm… ok, French internal politics may not be my strong suit, but I don’t think a ban on burquas will “stigmatize” Muslims in France. I’d guess that job would be left up to things like THIS:

Just sayin.’ To continue:

“In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,” Sarkozy said to extended applause in a speech at the Chateau of Versailles southwest of Paris.

“The burqa is not a religious sign, it’s a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement—I want to say it solemnly,” he said. “It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.”

On the one hand, this is a sentiment I can certainly understand, at an emotional level. Unlike the US, France has a distinct “culture” of sorts, which the trappings of Islam are foreign to (or at least have been since Chuck Da Hammer). And a nation has a right to protect its own culture, to a certain degree. But on the other hand, I’m a big fan of religious freedom. People should be allowed to do whatever dumbass thing they want to to themselves, so long as they don’t force it on others (and that’s where things get iffy… “force” takes on a whole new meaning when you start dealing with peer pressure). If some women want to dress in a way that announces to the world that they are less than human, that they are property, that they are not individuals but instead anonymous commodities… fine. That’s up to them. More power to ’em (or less, as the case would seem to be). But at the same time, anyone who demands to mask themselves in public needs to understand that they will be seen differently… and will be treated differently. If you refuse to show your face… no drivers license for you. No welfare, either, as you cannot be differentiated from anyone else.

If you dress like Klytus in public, people *will* treat you different.

Travel Photos: Highway One

photography 1 Response »

Jun 222009

California highway 1 runs between San Francisco and Los Angeles, generally right along the coast. And for much of that distance, the “coast” is not a shallow slope to the sea, but a steep cliff. The day I went along the road, the sky was overcast, making for poor photography, but these should still get the idea across.

Theme Song for the Obama Years

blather, Obamazombies, politics 1 Response »

Jun 222009

Five months in, we can see the trends of this administration, and can extrapolate outwards what the next three and a half years are going to be like:

1) Sucking up to our enemies

2) Blowing off our allies

3) Vast spending increases

4) Vast tax and debt increases

5) Creepifyin’ increases in government scope and power

6) Reductions in future prospects

In general… malaise, at best. So, perhaps it may be a bit early yet, but I think that once the personality cult of Obama wears off and is discarded, documentaries will be made about this era. Any documentary worth its salt requires musical accompaniment. I have a few suggestions that already strike a chord with me, setting the same mood as this administration.

Barbers Adagio for Strings

Glass’ Pruit Igoe (in this case, the video itself is also remarkably relevant, showing as it does the results of Obamist wealth redistributionist and socialist policies)

Williams Imperial March (if the Obamists get their way with the Civilian Brown Shirt Divisions)

And if he gets his way but is successfully overcome, this theme will seem appropriate for the resistance.

Beethoven symphony No.7, Op.92 (anyone who has seen the movie “Knowing” and caught the final use of this music will understand)

Requiem for a Tower. While the events may well be quite different, the actually feelings likely to emerge from the results of Obamas unwise decisions will likely mirror those brought up in this music (and video, especially from 2:50 to 3:00).

Gir Sums it up

And, distressingly, this piece of music seems like it’ll be very relevant

ASSET

aircraft, drawings, photography, spacecraft 2 Responses »

Jun 212009

ASSET (short for the TL;DR-worthy Aerothermodynamic Elastic Structural Systems Environmental Tests) was a series of small re-entry vehicles built and tested in the early 1960’s. intended to resemble the nose of the X-20 Dyna Soar, these little wing-body vehicles were launched on suborbital trajectories by Thor IRBMs. Of the six launched only one was recovered, and is currently on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. I visited there last year, and took a number of photos. Also included is a diagram of the main structural breakdown, courtesy Mark Nankivil.

Aerospace art in print form

aircraft, APR, drawings, projects, spacecraft 4 Responses »

Jun 212009

Before I got suckered into going out to Maryland last year, I started selling prints of “Aerospace Projects Review” artwork… not artwork that I’ve published in APR, per se, but artwork created specifically for APR: http://up-ship.com/blog/art/index.htm

I just got things going when the corporate world tricked me back in, causing me to shut the project down. Well, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that my vaguely similar idea of selling prints of my photos was a complete failure, I’d like to restart that effort.

The two I originally released were a 10X30 inch Project Pluto poster and a 12X16 version of the APR issue V1N4 cover. I’d prefer to release a second edition of the Pluto poster… 12X36 inches, with (hopefully) updated art and more data & diagrams. Being larger, it’d cost more… probably in the range of $30. And along with the V1N4 cover art, I’d like to do the same with the V2N2 cover art, and perhaps the V1N5 cover as well (with or without the APR cover text).

If this is of interest to anyone, feel free to let me know.

Additionally, I was directed to the eBay store of some feller who is selling “blueprints,” many of which appear to be cheap prints of many of the aircraft and spacecraft drawings I offer for sale. Someone simply printed ’em off and ran a bunch of copies. Not sure that there’s anything I can, or even should, do about this; while I tend to put a lot of effort into preparing the drawings (I’ve been working for months on some, cleaning them up and repairing them and making them generally presentable… you have no idea how much meticulous eye-strain goes into preparing some of these), they are of course not *my* drawings, as such. So it’s annoying to watch someone copying my effort this blatantly, but what’re-ya-gonna-do. Still, it brings up a thought.

This guy on eBay wants fifteen bucks minimum (with seven bucks shipping) for a single sheet, 24X36. Shown below are two photos of his version of my Saturn V inboard profile.

Now, I don’t know if this guy is actually moving product. But clearly he thinks he can. And if he can swipe my business *products, * I can swipe his business *model.* So… opinions on the idea of selling prints? There are three distinct variables:

1) High quality photo paper in color, as with the posters discussed above… and with equivalent prices. The Saturn V done 36 inches wide ( and about 7 inches high) would run about $15-$20.

2) “Meh” quality paper in color… about sixty percent as expensive. Call it $12-$15 or so for the 36-inch wide Saturn V.

3) “Meh” quality paper in black and white… relatively dirt cheap. Probably something along the lines of $5 for the Saturn V print (with additional shipping… probably around $5 for up to a dozen-ish prints of various sizes).

The Saturn V would look good printed up to six feet in length. I know this for a fact as the original is framed on my wall. A six-footer in color would be impressively expensive (somewhere north of $60), but in B&W it’d be quite reasonable… $12-$15 or therabouts.

2012: Oh Boy, Mayhem!

awesomeness, dumbassery, science fiction 10 Responses »

Jun 202009

Although it’s based on a ridiculous premise, the forthcoming flick “2012” looks to be jam-packed with explodey goodness. Take a look at the new high-def trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Wucar1vxQ

Los Angeles falls down, goes boom.

Las Vegas goes straight to hell

New York (?) slides into the sea

Yes, that’s an aircraft carrier, tossed by a tsunami, about to pay a visit to the White House

An Antonov 225 “Mriya” (the An 225… only one was ever finished) clips the Eiffel Tower (probably the Las Vegas one)

The An 225 comes to a bad end

MILF gets pounded in the lair

blather, humor, news 2 Responses »

Jun 192009

Air Force pounds MILF lairs with rockets

MANILA, Philippines – Air Force attack planes pounded yesterday the position of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Guindulungan, Maguindanao, as fighting between government troops and guerrillas entered its fourth day, a military spokesman reported.

What did you think this story was going to be about?

General Dynamics SLOMAR

contest, drawings, projects, spacecraft 3 Responses »

Jun 192009

SLOMAR = Space Logistics, Maintenance and Repair, a study program begun by the USAF in 1959. Funds were not actually made available until June of 1960, with the bulk of the work carried out over the following year. The basic objectives of the SLOMAR study were to estimate future military space needs in terms of support for manned space stations and produce preliminary designs of vehicles to fulfill that mission. Nearly 50 years later, SLOMAR remains shrouded in vaguery, since it was classified at the time and little has been declassified since.

One item that has been declassified is a brief memo describing and illustrating the main competing contractors various designs. Included within is the General Dynamics concept, a manned lifting body spaceplane with a payload of 6,000 pounds. Being a lifting body gave it cross range potential; the landing footprint was expected to be 1750 by 5200 nautical miles. Little other data was presented in the available documentation, unfortunately. The launch vehicle is unknown; it looks of the right sort of size to be launched by a Titan III, but the 12 foot diameter propulsion module is larger than the 10 foot diameter Titan III core. It may have been designed to launch atop a Saturn 1, or perhaps a launch vehicle of General Dynamics’ own design.

So, that’s another contest with no winner.

Fark: Dr. Seuss for the internet age

awesomeness, humor No Responses »

Jun 172009

Something that almost makes up for earlier today: A Fark photoshop contest.

Admitting defeat and moving on

blather, news, photography 12 Responses »

Jun 172009

Today came a phone call I’ve actually been expecting for a while: my lease for the booth where I’m displaying my panorama photos (see HERE and HERE) is being cancelled early. Two months in, and less than $12 in sales, at more than $110/month to lease… it’s been a disaster for all involved. The Quilted Bear store is of course also losing money, since it’s taking up space that could be filled by somebody who is actually selling stuff (they take an 11% commission, so they of course want product to sell). I cut the prices by almost a half a month ago, to no avail. Of course, apparently everyone else in the store is doing well enough, including the other few sellers of nature photography. Only my stuff is sitting there, not selling.

Typical.

So, I’ve got till the end of the month to clear the shelves. After that… dunno. The “bonfire” idea is certainly looking better and better. Spending even more money on getting booth space at various art shows in the area really, really doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest anymore.

Since I paid for two years worth of it in advance, the website for my photos will stay up for a while. I doubt there’d be much point in updating that, either… even more months it’s been running, and not a single sale from there, either.

So, here’s a lesson, kids: it doesn’t matter HOW MANY people tell you “Wow, that’s a great picture, you could sell those,” assume that that person is flat-out lying to you unless they bust out with the checkbook and actually buy. This little rule of thumb applies across the board to all areas of human endeavor… the sign of true appreciation is not praise, it’s money (or the equivalent in barter or effort). Praise, like appologies, is cheap. That which is given freely has no value.

Additional lessons: stubbornness, dogged determination, sticktoitiveness… all fine concepts. But at some point, you’ve got to realize that some battles cannot be won, and that further efforts are just wasted sweat, time and money down a rathole. The time comes for you to realize that you’re a failure and to cut your losses.

And while I’ve just demonstrated Business Fail on a relatively small scale… leave it to the US Federal Government to demonstrate Government Fail on a truly massive scale. The “War on Drugs,” anyone? How about the “War on Poverty?” Both have been, by any rational and honest measure, massive failures. Making drugs illegal didn’t stop people from doing them… but it did lock up a whole hell of a lot of people, bloat the size and scope of governemnt, and drain the taxpayers wallets. The “Great Society” programs did no statistical good in helping people out of poverty… but it did lead to generations trapped in welfare dependancy.

Ah, but here’s the biggest difference: intent. I don’t know why my photo business has failed as spectacularly as it has. Could be the economy, could be that I just suck as a photographer (and yet virtually *everyone* who sees them is a blatant liar when they proclaim them Really Good? Seems unlikely, but who knows), could be competition. Could be a lot of things. I do know why the government programs failed: they’re frakkin’ stoooopid, and ignore basic human nature. When I reach the end of the finances and effort I’m willing to expend on a failing enterprise… I stop. But the governemnt… just keeps shovelling money at faield programs, year after year. Why? Can those in the government truly be so blind that they cannot see three generatiosn of fail staring them in the face? Sorry, I don’t buy the that. The reason why these failed efforts continue is because… they are not failures. Eliminating drug use and poverty are not the goals. Increasing the dominance of the government… that’s the goal. And in that regard, these “wars” have been spectacular success.

Sadly, I see no equivalent “stealth goal” for my photography business. It’s not like I can use photos that don’t sell to scam a decent living out of the government. Or can I? Hmmm… Anyone have any suggestions? Any way to turn this failed business venture into a successful source for “economic stimulus?”

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