I don’t often talk about myself on this blog, but I can’t pass this up. This week I modeled in a geek fashion show (wearing Marc Jacobs) and had my first surfing action-shot. I’m pretty excited about both because the above photo was on the Vanity Fair website and the below photo is from a fun new group of surfers starting a DIY revolution in the sport.
That’s me bodysurfing with a handplane – a great photo from Shawn Parkin.
I’ve been seeing a lot more solar panels installed on homes. Which has me wondering, what is the impact on cost, inconvenience, and utilities.
Scott over on the Zero Waste Blog has the perfect, written-by-an-engineer, write-up. It is worth reading the whole thing, but here is a meaty excerpt:
So what has the impact been? Well, we did actually turn up the heat – so I don’t have to wear the puff jacket all the time. But despite the relaxation of the “thermostat tyranny”, we have seen a huge decrease in our month bills:
- For our first full month (FEB 13 to MAR 14): We used negative 5 kWh (our meter ran backwards). Of course, in Northern California, we had a sunny, warm February, with virtually no rain. For the same period in 2011, we used 601 kWh.
- For the 2nd month (MAR 14 to APR 13): We used 141 kWh. Last month was cold and very rainy (i.e., less solar power), we had guests and turned up the electric heaters. For the same period in 2011, we used 567 kWh.
- Bottomline: Our total electric bill for two months is $17.50, plus $8.88 in unavoidable taxes, etc. For comparison sake, the same two months last year cost us $207.28.
keep reading – Zero Waste Blog
// Photo – Pink Dispatcher
This original pitch tape, made by Jim Henson to sell The Muppet Show to CBS.
Leo, dressed in a suit and tie, announces that Jim Henson and CBS executive George Schlatter have merged into one being, to bring to television: “The Muppet Show! A show that will be loved and adored by Nielsen families all over the country!”
Leo insists that the show will make them rich and famous. As his speech continues, he becomes increasingly excited and crazed (a motif previously used in “Sell! Sell! Sell!”). He practically explodes in a burst of patriotism and enthusiasm.
An edited version of this tape can be found on Disney’s The Muppet Show: Season One DVD box set.
via – Muppets Wiki
// Thx – Laughing Squid
Six Flags New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
It has been abandoned ever since.
We’ve been awed all week at the history-making US Bobsled team. The bobsled and skeleton athletes from the USA have won medals so far in every event – including the first-ever gold medal in the men’s 2-man won by Steve Holcomb and Steve Langton.
Maybe you at home are sitting there thinking “Hey, that doesn’t look too bad, maybe I could make the team. I’d just have to push a little and enjoy the ride.” Well, before you start making room for your Olympic medals, check out this video of star brakeman ‘Super’ Steve Langton training on the box jump.
Langton is regarded by every athlete we’ve spoken to as nearly superman in his natural ability. Langton is a 6’2″, 230lbs sprinting machine. Like many bobsled athletes, he’s a former track athlete. He’s the champion in the inaugural Push Start World Championships. And he can leap onto a 62″ box from a standing start – that’s over 5 feet.
via Daily House
Then, there’s senior cornerback, Justin Bethel, from Presbyterian College, who at 6-feet jumps on these boxes at roughly 60 inches off the ground:
Second part of Dana Carvey’s audition for Saturday Night Live.
**Watch part 1 – Chopping Broccoli
Back when single-celled organisms ruled Earth, a gigantic black hole lurking quietly at the center of a distant galaxy dismantled and devoured a star.
On Wednesday, astronomers reported that they watched the whole thing unfold over a period of 15 months starting in 2010, the first time such an event had been witnessed in great detail from start to finish.
“The star got so close that it was ripped apart by the gravitational force of the black hole,” said Johns Hopkins University astronomer Suvi Gezari, lead author of a paper about the observations that was published online by the journal Nature.
***
Veering close to the black hole — about the same distance as Mercury lies from the sun — the gaseous star was stretched out and torn asunder by the black hole’s intense gravity.
“It turned into this really thin piece of spaghetti,” Gezari said.
About 76 days after the star was ripped apart, the black hole began devouring its remains, taking at least a year to finish off the meal.
***
Astronomers call these star-obliterating events tidal disruptions. The process is similar to….keep reading – Giant black hole is seen gobbling up a star
The Los Angeles Film Festival has announced its full line-up for 2012, which will screen a diverse slate of nearly 200 feature films, short films, and music videos, representing more than 30 countries, along with signature programs such as the Filmmaker Retreat, Poolside Chats, Coffee Talks, music events and more.
Items of note:
Returning to downtown Los Angeles and headquartered at L.A. LIVE for a third year, the Festival will run from Thursday, June 14 to Sunday, June 24.
Passes are currently on sale – LAFilmFest.com.
He’ll be best remembered for his concept of the wash-and-go approach to hair care: A cut so simple and so good that it required little maintenance.
Wrote Adam Bernstein, in Sassoon’s obituary:
Clean geometric lines had been Mr. Sassoon’s driving motivation since opening his first salon in London in 1954. At the time, most women were resigned to going to bed at night with rollers in their hair. His approach grew into a direct assault on the beehive style and other formidable towers of hair seemingly shellacked with hairspray.
In 1957, he launched a fruitful collaboration with British clothes designer Mary Quant, the widely acknowledged “mother of the miniskirt.” In the bob style he perfected for Quant — who wanted her models’ necks and shoulders bare — Mr. Sassoon crafted a look that was tight at the nape but allowed the hair to fall in a flirty, bohemian cascade.
The “Sassoon bob” became the rage of Swinging London and one of the most enduring hairstyles of the last half-century. Variations on the bob included the popular “five-point” cut first modelled in 1963 by Grace Coddington.
Subsequent hairstyles he promoted included an asymmetrical, peek-a-boo bob and a short, closely curled look called the “greek goddess.”
// Thx – Loren Feldman
