Watch the interview with surprise Democratic Senate Nominee Alvin Green. It’s one thing to not be “smooth,” but this is… damn.
Ow.
Jun 112010
Jun 112010
A small bit of art from the FAA showing a waterside (Chicago? New York? Davenport?) airport for VTOL jetliners. In the late 1960’s, NASA and the FAA were quite interested in small VTOL airliners, roughly the size of the 737 or smaller, for short urban routes. As can be seen here, the airports for such jetliners could in theory be quite small, as full-length runways would not be needed. Instead of one huge airport well outside of town, a number of smaller airports could be scattered around the urban area. The advantage here is that instead of a two hour drive to the airport, fighting rush hour gridlock the whole way… a quick bus ride ten blocks over could get you to your regularly scheduled business-class flight (with, as this was the 60’s, a crew of “sexy stews,” passengers wearing suits and the air full of cigarette smoke and the smell of booze).
Of course, it’s interesting to note the fact that the airport was right next to a large body of water… if that jetliner has a vertical-thrust engine failure on final approach, it’s going to come down *somewhere,* and Wall Street might not be the best place for a jetliner at 1000 feet and 20 knots airspeed to try to make a decent half-powered landing.
VTOL jetliners and downtown VTOL airports were concepts that had pretty much faded by the mid/late 1970s’s. VTOL jetliners are capable of doing many things… and near the top of that list is “blowing through vast amounts of jet fuel” followed quickly by “making one hell of a racket.” In the post-cheap-oil days, the novelty of the concept faded pretty fast. Certainly VTOL jetliners coluld be built with todays engines and materials (not to mention control computers) that would perform vastly better than 1960’s tech would have allowed… but what are the chances that any city is goign to buy off on the concept of jetliners flying off rooftops in midtown?
Jun 102010
To me, Koshka and Raedthinn here look like nothing so much as a sitcom vision of a bitter old wife and husband, each hoping for the other to die soon.
Jun 102010
A week ago I took some photos of a gleaming B-17 in the open air at the Logan airport. Some seemed to think that the engine photo was pretty good. Well, today I found myself near the Hill Aerospace Museum, and decided to take a few comparison photos.
Sadly, there’s no comparison.
First, the museum B-29. It’s sitting outside, which for photography is good; but the weather was cloudy, which was bad. Worse, the B-29 is pretty beat to hell, in serious need of restoration. Worse still, metal screen has been nailed in place over the engine itself. All the other major piston engined planes outside have the same screening. Bah.
Next was the museum’s B-17. This one has been lovingly restored, which is good, and has no screening, which is great. But it’s indoors, which sucks something fierce.
Conclusion: carefully restored, no screens, clean, outside, bright sunshiny day. Accept no substitutes.
Jun 092010
This time, the camera was ready!
Jun 092010
In Britain, you can just blame it on the boooooooooze.
‘As soon as they were gone, Nick pulled me out of the shower by the hair. He started shaking me, saying I had humiliated him in front of our friends.
‘He hit me, and then hit me again, and then he threw me out into the streets completely naked and locked the door.’
She said he let her back in after five minutes, but she only had time to put on a T-shirt before he threw her on the bed and pushed her head into the pillows.
‘I couldn’t breathe,’ she said. ‘I thought I was going to die. I was screaming and screaming and to stop me he pulled my jaw open to try and break it.’
She said he then threw her in the bath, pulled her T-shirt over her head and turned the shower on ‘full and freezing’ in her face.
…
A judge found Williams, 33, not guilty of assault and causing actual bodily harm after experts said the drug, combined with alcohol and a history of depression, could have caused him to lose control.
Awesome. Next: drunk driving! Get out of prison time by claiming that you’re not responsible, because you were drunk at the time! Brilliant!
And in other news out of Britainland:
‘Follow the Islamic way to save the world,’ Prince Charles urges environmentalists
Mayor of London whines about American cultural imperialism for daring to be interested in Harry Potter
Jun 092010
I’ve been tinkering with art again, trying to perfect the process of making a black and white diagram into a good cyanotype blueprint. This time, it’s the Douglas ICARUS troop transport. I’ve not only blued and noised it, I’ve also added some subtle shading that indicates that this particular blueprint has spent the last forty-some years folded up. So, whaddaya think? I think it’d look good around 36 inches long. If there’s interest, I’ll add it to the list of prints.
Jun 092010
Another ill-described 1977 General Dynamics sketch. This shows an “Advanced Strategic Aircraft,” which would have been a follow-on to the B-1. When the presentation was put together, President Carter had not yet cancelled the B-1, and the Advanced Technology Bomber (B-2) program was still a few years away. So what the exact roles and capabilities of this aircraft were to be are unknown. It does not look like a full-sized strategic bomber… based on the cockpit, which looks similar to an F-111 cockpit, it’s substantially smaller than the B-2, and appears to be equipped with only two engines. It was likely meant to be something more like a stealthy, subsonic version of the F-111.
This would certainly be an interesting program to see more info on.
Jun 092010
You know that ancient bit about women standing screaming on tables in early Sixties sitcoms when a mouse runs through the kitchen? Well, *obviously* those days are over, thanks to Wimmens Lib and whatnot. Right? Womenfolk don’t respond that way to random critters anymore.
Right?
UPDATE: Apparently the only thing funnier than Salma Hayek being interviewed for her new movie and then going TOTALLY BUGNUTS INSANE when a snake wanders onto the set (which is outdoors) is “The video has been removed due to copyright violation by Warner Entertainment.”
Bah.
Trust me, it was hi-larious. Given that she did a dance with a python in “Dusk to Dark,” it seems unlikely that she has a phobia about snakes… but whatever, she went full-bore gonzo.
Sigh.
Jun 082010
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177789
Although most of the recent talk regarding flotillas has revolved around ships sailing toward Gaza, at least two plans have emerged for “reverse flotillas” – from Israel toward Turkey – to highlight what organizers have labeled the Turks’ “shameless hypocrisy” in their criticisms of the Jewish state.
The most ambitious of the two plans has been devised by members of Israel’s National Student Union, who this week announced their intention to set sail toward Turkey, in an effort to bring humanitarian aid to the “oppressed people of Turkish Kurdistan” and to members of the “Turkish Armenian minority.”
…The second phase of the National Student Union members’ flotilla plan would be the more ambitious journey to Turkey, though Torporovsky admitted they were hard-pressed when it came to funding it.
“We need three things to pull this part off,” he said.
“Money, logistical support and balls – and we’ve got the last two things covered.
“But it’s here that we really get into the shameless hypocrisy of the Turks, because while they criticize us day and night, they are oppressing the Kurds and silencing the world when it comes to recognition of the Armenian Genocide.”
Heh.
It’s not exactly what I suggested here in the comments on June 3rd, but it’s close.