Educate and excite, inform and infuriate.
April 18th, 2008 — Art, Aviation, Design, Government, Journalism, Military, NONFICTION, Photography, Technology
Typically, if you found yourself this close to the working end of an aerobatic sports plane, not to mention a Boeing 777, below, you’d be in a world of mess.
But if you’re Erik Hildebrandt, you’re, basically, at your desk. (Hey: That rhymes!)
One of the today’s most skilled aviation photographers, the Minnesota-based Hildebrandt is the guest on my WBAI-NY / 99.5 FM radio show, NONFICTION, this afternoon, Friday, April 18, 2 pm ET.
April 14th, 2008 — Aviation, Government, Military, Race, Technology, Work
To quote rapper Craig G, from “The Symphony,” mm mm mm, ain’t that somethin’: Maj. Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell is the first African-American female fighter pilot ever in the United States Air Force. (Thanks to Black Spin for the tip.)
March 19th, 2008 — Environment, Science, Technology
I think it was on my 8th-grade class trip to the New York Hall of Science in Queens that I first learned our astronauts, in order to conserve precious water while in space, recycled their pee.
The fact was so startling then that I don’t think, mentally, I’ve ever made it to the next, obvious step: Reflexively grokking what pee, in one’s mouth, would actually taste like. The factoid just rests in my brain as an odd, disgusting byte, to be activated every now and then, like, for example, with the August 2007 news that trapped Chinese miners survived nearly a week by eating coal and drinking their own piss.
Now, two artists—the aptly-named Britta Riley and her partner Rebecca Bray—are investigating “the role our bodies play in larger ecosystems” through their drinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee project. (Thanks for tipping us off, City Dirt and Eyebeam. Why these activists call their site “drink pee” x3 when it seems more about reprocessing urine, I don’t know.
March 4th, 2008 — Film, Music, Pop Culture, Sex, Technology
I’d never heard of Canadian-Chinese pop singer Edison Chen, 27, until a link on racialicious.com told me his sordid story. In short: Brother took a laptop in to have it fixed. Then, in late January 2008, a picture of him in a compromising position with an Asian starlet appeared on the web.
At first, Chen gave the usual excuses—It’s not me, I’m being framed, etc. But, then, soon, more of the explicit flicks appeared, not just one or two, five or six, but dozens.
February 21st, 2008 — Pop Culture, Technology, TV
The new Knight Rider aired Sunday evening, updating the original David Hasselhoff ’80s
TV show for the year 2000, while retaining the original premise. You remember: Michael Knight—here, Mike Tracer (Ooo!)—equipped with an ultra-advanced talking automobile as his primary weapon, roams the highways and byways, fighting crime.
Oh, to be a 14-year-old boy, again.
There’s a rhythm to hour-long, episodic television that’s always been there, I’m sure, but that, for some reason, I really started noticing while watching Grey’s Anatomy. It goes as follows:
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