"10 gallons of gas and a match" was Jim Goodall first thought on viewing the Museum of Flight's British de Havilland Comet which he is in charge of restoring. The original Comets were the first commercial jet, carrying passengers in the 1950s. First flown in 1959 this particular airplane was last used to train firefighters and was full of water and green slime when the museum took possession in 1994. It had been grounded by the FAA during its final flying job sometime after being sold to Redmond Air in 1978. The cockpit restoration is complete but Goodall believes it will be another 4-6 years before the plane is ready to be put on exhibit.
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Are you a raisin connaisseur? Probably not. But UC's Kearney Agricultural Center ran taste-tests comparing grapes dried on paper trays to those dried on the vine. 120 tasters were recruited at UC Davis. The results seemed to favor vine-dried raisins: "Grapes dried on the vine were fruitier, softer and lighter in color. The ones dried on trays, like the common supermarket raisin, were a bit more sour, chewier and stickier." However the vine method does have a sour tannin flavor that some do not prefer. Vine drying takes longer and is not suited for the Seedless Thompson grapes which most raisin farmers grow. But a foodie niche market for luxury grapes is certainly a possibility.
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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Many Washington State rest stops now feature wireless Internet service provided by Road Connect. Access to the Department of Transportation Web site and other travel sites is free. Full access costs $1.99 for 20 minutes, $3.99 a day. Road Connect is also available or coming soon in Texas, Oregon, California, Kansas and Florida.
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The possibility of encountering "water scorpions, leeches, of course, a few trout and maybe the odd eel" did not deter competitors in the World Bog Snorkelling Championships. Now featuring corporate sponsorship (auctioned off on eBay) and worldwide press, the annual event is the product of a late night barroom brainstorm. Llanwrtyd Wells, Britain’s smallest town, hosts the 100+ competitors (and fans). Participants, wearing snorkels and flippers, are allowed to kick but can only doggy paddle to navigate the 60 yard trench twice. For the first time in the 21 year old event, a "swim-off" tie-breaker was necessary to crown the World Champion Bog Snorkeller, Haydn Pitchforth.
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Monday, August 28, 2006

The Floating Homes Association of Seattle is holding its biennial houseboat tour on September 10th. 15 homes floating on Lake Union will be open for viewing. (Seattle Times' impressions of a two-story model)
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Art glass fans looking for new kitchen cabinet hardware may want to check out SpectraDecor. The Seattle company recycles glass into accents for drawer pulls, cabinet knobs, and tiles too.
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Limited edition dark chocolate M&Ms played a role in a Star Wars Episode III marketing campaign. The company received over 30,000 e-mails requesting the permanent return of dark chocolate so they've now added it to the growing M&M arsenal. The ad campaign ignores pop culture in favor of Expressionism. M&Ms' parent company is offering a reward of two million dark chocolate M&M's for the return Edvard Munch's "The Scream," stolen from the Munch Museum two years ago. White chocolate fans can grab a bag of "Pirate Pearls", M&M's movie promotion for Pirates of the Caribbean.
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Friday, August 25, 2006

Has this already made the weblog rounds? It's the original S.S. Minnow from Gilligan's Island. For Sale. (Not Cheap.)
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The last time we watched Mythbusters the narrator made a personal observation which made me wonder for the first time who he was. Of course real Mythbusters fans have already gotten the goods on the voice that always sounds amused by the antics of Adam (Jamie is always serious, no antics. Really.). Robert Lee has an American accent but he was born in England, lived in North American and is now a resident of Australia.
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Just a few days after our evening at The Herbfarm's "European Common Table", The Seattle Times published a rundown of local restaurants with communal tables. Carrie Van Dyck, co-owner of The Herbfarm, is quoted many times. Some are reluctant to share a table with strangers but most warm up to it and have a fun time and even make new friends.
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Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Freaky Astronomy Picture of the Day. Don't worry, it's not natural.
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75 years of Mercedes-Benz Popemobile, not much text but lots of photos (via frykitty)
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A butter sculpture of a cow may be old news at the Ohio State Fair, but this year there's also a butter sculpture of team mascots Who Dey of the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dawg of the Cleveland Browns. The Ohio dairy industry has a partnership with the NFL.
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Monday, August 21, 2006

On Sunday we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary with a lengthy dinner at The Herbfarm restaurant in Woodinville. My unedited account is up on both a Flickr photoset (unfortunately I neglected to bring my camera so I had to use my cellphone for photos) and a Vox blog that I've been testing.
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In recent Seattle Times articles about local accused killers and victims, I've noticed photos and information obtained from the news subjects' postings on social networking sites such as myspace and friendster and also information from personal websites. I had two reactions: 1) How can you fact-check information from a personal or social website? 2) Everything you put on the web is public information. Obvious perhaps, but the intended audience of a personal profile on a networking site is not the million readers of a newspaper. The Seattle Times editor-at-large took note of this new avenue of research and wrote about a brownbag discussion held to discuss use of networking site information. He acknowledges that "one can't assume the accuracy of the information or even that it was posted by the people listed on the site." Use of these sites is not discouraged but reporters are urged to be "overly cautious." He closes his commentary with a list of "Ethical considerations for the press" which seems like overkill for the issue at hand, but certainly illustrates his concern.
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Friday, August 18, 2006

Entertainment news is abuzz with the IRS taking action to publicize the tax implications of award show gift bags. Here are some facts to remember, gleaned directly from the IRS and Academy of Motion Pictures press releases:
1. The Academy voluntarily approached the IRS in order to clear up the tax implications of their (substantial and pricey) gift basket.
2. In April, the Academy board voted to discontinue the practice of thanking their presenters and performers with gift baskets.
3. Since the Academy did not want their presenters to get hit directly with any retroactive taxes from past baskets, the Academy worked with the IRS on an agreement to take on past tax obligations (through 2005). However, recipients of this year's baskets will be responsible for any taxes
4. Other external gift bags and freebie "shopping suites" seem to also be included in the IRS' taxable income umbrella. So companies setting up gifts in conjunction with an event, but not directly coming from the event producers, will also need to consider the implications of this announcement.
As for me, it looks like my major yearly research (and publicity!) project will be going the way of the dodo. (IRS news release)
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Thursday, August 17, 2006

When Your Landlord Is a Cat. New York magazine says it really happened. Two sisters died in 1999 and left their house to their cats. The executor/caretaker took in a lot of strays as well and eventually wanted to move to country digs with the animals. By then she wasn't sure which were the kitty owners, but she was able to cash out anyway. I'm sure the heirs and their friends were fed well and treated royally.
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Interesting things for cats:
Hip Chips: for your favorite arthritic feline, contains glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, chicken liver flavored
Flying Bug Jar: glow in the dark bugs swirl around inside a tippy container, ready for batting
Pill Pockets: healthy treats with a patented pocket to safely conceal medication.
KattWALLks: carpeted shelving for cats, including a corner balcony option.

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Got a swarm of bees bothering you? Volunteer swarm-catchers may be available in your area to remove them. "Swarms are incredibly safe," says a local beekeeper. The bees are supposedly full of honey and focused on finding a new home, so stinging is not on their minds.
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There's a neat article on shoes in the September National Geographic. One section discusses the subject of concealed shoes with June Swann, former Keeper of the Boot and Shoe Collection at Northampton Museum in England. Swann started a registry of concealed shoes that have been found in houses all around the world. Hidden deliberately for luck and to ward away spirits, shoes have been found in roofs, next to the chimney, under floorboards, and plastered into ceilings and walls. 1,700 have been catalogued, but many are probably shrugged away by remodelers and never reported. The superstition has no one root explanation, or at least not one that is known to Swann. An article she wrote speculates on several possibilities and also tells haunting tales of situations where previously hidden shoes were taken from the premises and bad events transpired.
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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Artists for Literacy has a searchable database of songs inspired by literature. Let's say you remember there's a Cure song about the book The Stranger but you can't remember the details. The title and album are a quick search away. I first discovered this organization when good friends gave me the first SIBL CD.
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Even if you buy an airplane seat for your carry-on or bottle of water it won't make it on the plane if security says "no." Space isn't the issue. So pity the orchestra musicians who are accustomed to lugging their precious, often antique, and always fragile instruments onto the plane with them for safekeeping. Baggage handling is a crapshoot no matter how many warning labels you put on your case. I once watched tears stream down the face of a friend as her cello was rudely thrown onto a baggage conveyor belt. At our destination it was hand carried off and watched over by a kind baggage handler until she claimed it, but the damage was already done -- her bridge had collapsed.

Summer is a heavy travel season for most symphony orchestras and quite a few are headed to London for the BBC Proms, the annual classical music festival. The NY Times looks at how orchestras are coping with the newly tight carry-on restrictions. The Bolshoi, currently in London, is looking into ferry and truck arrangements for the return trip. Orchestras accustomed to travel have their own crates for packing up large instruments and this time around those who would prefer to carry-on may need to join in the crating up. Faced with no crates, no carry-ons, and a canceled flight, New York's Orchestra of St. Luke's canceled a British tour that took two years of careful planning.
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Monday, August 14, 2006

In downtown Bellevue, just a few minutes from our house, it seems like there's a construction crane on every block. A Seattle Times editorial last week claimed "Of the estimated 35 construction cranes angling toward the sky in cities west of the Mississippi, 15 are parked in downtown Bellevue." The 35 estimate is low in comparison to the numbers in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. Their interviews of tower crane rental companies brought out estimates of 40 and 50 in the Puget Sound region alone. The construction boom has increased rental lead times to 6-8 months. Tower cranes cost $8,000 - $30,000 a month depending on size, plus $60,000 - $80,000 for preparation and setup. And luffing cranes, which can lower their booms and avoid hitting other buildings in dense locations, are in especially high demand.
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Newspapers like the NY Times will have obituaries for persons of, shall we say, a certain age, written and ready-to-go. You may recall an incident a few years back when some pre-written obituaries were mistakenly made available on a certain online news site. The SF Chronicle's "NWZCHIK" points out another interesting possibility with advance obits: when the author dies before the obituary is published. The NY Times' obituary for James A. Van Allen published last week was written, presumably at least ten years ago, by Walter Sullivan who died in 1996. Bob Hope's 2003 NYT obituary was written by Vincent Canby who died in 2000.
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Friday, August 11, 2006

If you've ever questioned the usefulness of "no pulp" orange juice, try serving regular OJ out of a sippy cup to a toddler who knows the word "STUCK!"
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A locomotive floated across New York Harbor yesterday on the way to its new home in Riverside Park South. The sixty year old engine is a model S1 switcher "which sorted out cars and assembled whole trains at all hours and in all weather." It was manufactured by the American Locomotive Company in 1946 for the Erie Railroad and in 1967 came to work in the Brooklyn harbor yard. To become park-ready the locomotive was stripped of multiple layers of lead paint and given the distinctive black and yellow colors of the New York Central Railroad. It was donated by the Cross Harbor Railroad for $30,000, the engine's scrap metal cost. Becoming the centerpiece of a new park and a symbol for rail era is a worthy retirement for a hard-working locomotive.
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Thursday, August 10, 2006

Cutest local news item today: Blue-footed booby sighted in Skagit County. It doesn't have blue feet because it's not grown up, but the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says it's a blue-footed booby. "The first sighting in Washington state since 1935."
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It's certainly a new weblogging world out there when I receive a press release announcing a new weblog. Vancouver's Opus Hotel (of Oscar gift bag fame, which is why I'm on their PR list) has started up a blog written by their General Manager, Daniel Craig. When I first read the press release I shrugged it off and almost deleted it (regular readers know my style isn't to post just any old news item and certainly not any old PR item -- oh, and definitely not in hopes of a free hotel room). But the GM's Blog is interesting reading and while of course he speaks highly of his employer, it's not marketing speak, just good marketing. He admits that their PR firm has convinced him to sanitize a few postings, so he's not uncensored, but hopefully they "get" what this is all about. HotelChatter is keeping an eye out for other hotel blogs.
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Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Old technology delivered in a fishwrap? Sounds like an iffy proposition, but IMedia is distributing CD-ROMs in two major newspapers' Sunday editions. So far the Dallas Morning News is happy with the endeavor. Their first disc was used 302,000 times and their circulation is 625,000. Readers are spending around 20 minutes looking at the CD which focuses on entertainment content such as movie previews, music samples, video games and comics. The New York Daily News is rolling out the discs in October. Apparently in Great Britain the CD strategy is so commonplace that users expect them in their weekend papers. I'd never get around to using the CD, especially since I'm usually on my laptop which doesn't have a built-in drive. But I'm constantly looking through newspaper websites so I'd rather see efforts put into making those compelling and profitable.
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Martha Stewart's putting her "personal nightmare" to rest having agreed with the SEC to pay $195,000 and limit her executive responsibility at her company. This settlement of the civil insider-trading claims avoids another embarrassing public trial and she did not have to admit to any wrongdoing. Her previous prison time was for lying during the investigation, not punishment for the actual insider trading allegations.
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Tuesday, August 08, 2006

The Seattle Times is running three days of investigative reporting on glass artist Dale Chihuly whose filing of copyright lawsuits has opened his business practices to scrutiny and criticism. Day one focuses on the overall business, the building and marketing of the Chihuly brand, the company's sales practices and factory production methods. Accompanying material includes an informative slideshow on the different methods of creating glass art. Day two hones in on Chihuly's clever deals with charitable organizations who purchase his work for resale. Finally, day three gets to the trigger for all of the inquiry, the lawsuits and speculation on why he decided to take two fellow artists to court. The overall message is clear: Chihuly Inc. is a business, a successful one that has taken full opportunity from (some would say advantage of) PBS and philanthropic partnerships. They will protect their assets as a business would and do what it takes to keep the money coming in and their products at high value.
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Caterpillars. Lots of them. No, it's not the 1980s gypsy moth invasion again, it's just the normal lifecycle of the moths and butterflies in a Connecticut backyard. David Wagner, associate professor of ecology at UConn, seeks out the variety of caterpillars behind his house and claims he's seen more than 1,000 species out there. The NY Times article includes some of his photos and a video of him beating tree branches to toss insects onto a sheet for study. Caterpillars are difficult to research and catalog; "dead caterpillars do not keep well" and you have to rear them to adulthood to fully identify them. Surprisingly "there are well-known moths whose caterpillars have never been seen by science." Dr. Wagner's book "Caterpillars of Eastern North America" covers 600 species. Some entomologists keep online listings of caterpillars of various regions, and then there are the hobbyists such as JavaJane, a Brit who has created a North American version of her popular What's this Caterpillar site.
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Monday, August 07, 2006

Jane & Michael Stern (authors of "Roadfood", columnists for Gourmet Magazine, etc.) launched Roadfood.com in 2000 and it has flourished: "We are now averaging 1/4 million unique users each month and over 2 million page views per month." In an email interview with Michael and webmaster Stephen Rushmore, the OJR reveals the genesis of the website, its business model (lack thereof), and content generation. In related discoveries, Jane Stern's autobiographical book "Ambulance Girl" (which I enjoyed) was actually turned into a TV movie in 2005 starring & directed by Kathy Bates.
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Gloria Steinem's memoirs were due in 2000 but she had yet to find time to write them. Knowing she had to "do something drastic," Steinem retreated this summer to HedgeBrook, a 48 acre haven for women writers on Whidbey Island, not far from Seattle. There along with six other residents she has the solitude she needs to put her 35 years at the front lines of the fight for women's rights into the form of a book. Each evening they share a meal prepared by Hedgebrook's chef (other meals are also provided) and once a week they share their work. The Seattle Times recently printed another (less famous) author's experiences at Hedgebrook (free registration to read but cypherpunk/cypherpunk works).
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Friday, August 04, 2006

In news sure to shock no one, the Disney Channel movie phenomenon High School Musical is, yup, now a high school musical available for licensing. The first licensed amateur production takes the stage this month at performing arts camp Stagedoor Manor. Other high school aged productions are in the works. Middle school aged fans (the true target demographic for the movie, or at least the one that will readily admit to it) can license a one-act version geared to their abilities.
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While I wasn't paying attention, Knight Ridder, "second-largest newspaper chain in America," went through some twisty corporate maneuvering and got absorbed out of existence. On top of that one of its crown jewels, the San Jose Mercury News, is now owned by an entirely different company. The summary of events from the Mercury News article (I figure they should know): In November, Knight Ridder's largest shareholder forces the company to put itself up for sale. The second and third largest shareholders join in, Knight Ridder caves and starts the courting process in January. In March, the McClatchy Company, savvy and profitable owner of 12 U.S. papers, reaches a purchase agreement that in the end totals $4.1 billion plus $2 billion of Knight Ridder debt. McClatchy immediately reveals plans to sell 12 Knight Ridder papers to pay down the debt. MediaNews takes 4 papers, including the Merc, for $1 billion (2 are officially owned by Hearst). McClatchy's sell-off is a success and still leaves them the second-largest newspaper company in the U.S. The MediaNews deal closed on Wednesday and the Merc can finally settle in with a new owner.
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Thursday, August 03, 2006

"Attila the Bun" had a messy hairdo and the "Button-Up" bandit wore button-up shirts. Both are now behind bars along with many other bank robbers whose FBI nicknames may have helped cement their identificiation. Catchy criminal names are nothing new, but their continued use helps the FBI gain media attention and public awareness. The names can't be "too funny" or a motive for retribution and you have to rob three banks to get one. My favorite name from the article is the "Can you hear me now?" bandit who always had a cellphone to his ear.
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Architect Frank Gehry's new jewelry collection for Tiffany & Co. launched recently with celebrity studded parties. There's a surprising range of styles, six motifs and at least 120 pieces. Most are in silver, but various exotic woods, jade, quartz and of course gold are also featured. There's a chunky bracelet made entirely of Cachalong opal, a porous stone similar to mother of pearl. I also noticed a ring in "black gold" which was new to me; the alloy can be made by several methods. The dominant motif in the collection seems to be the abstract fish which appears in a multitude of materials. The orchid earrings, however, are selling extremely well.
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Wednesday, August 02, 2006

OK trivia buffs, you all know that The Buggles "Video Killed the Radio Star" was the first video aired on MTV, right? To commemorate MTV's 25th (twenty-five years!) Anniversary you can sacrifice a few more brain cells to memorize #2: Pat Benatar's "You Better Run." The entire first hour, including commercials, is available for online viewing at music.mtv.com. You can skip around to segments such as an Atari commercial which features a joystick-wielding dog. VH-1 showed the first 24 hours on Tuesday and will do so again on Saturday.
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Pink is my favorite color but I'm nevertheless astounded that each wireless carrier has a completely different shade of pink for their version of the Motorola Razr. Verizon's is silvery pink, T-Mobile's is hot pink, and Cingular's is bubblegum pink. The Seattle PI commented on the pink gadget phenomenon back in March. Of course the target demographic is women and so far it's working. Target's back to school circular featured a pink notebook computer.
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Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Old news, but maybe not to everyone out there: Send your saliva (and some money) and get back your own DNA art. I had two thoughts on this: 1. Celebrities should spit and sell their DNA art for charity. 2. Only identical twins can truly surprise each other with this as a gift. (via Luxist)
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In Anthony Bourdain's account of his abbreviated stay in Beirut (Salon access req'd), he mentions "Kwik-Clot" a powder that is used to stop severe bleeding ("Just pour in wound!" says the man who "exfiltrated" them to safety). I did a little searching and found QuikClot, which is a "granulated mineral substance" similar to kitty litter that clots the blood instantly. It is removed once the wound can be repaired. QuikClot was developed by Z-Medica in my homestate of Connecticut and is now standard issue for Marine, Navy, and Air Force personnel in combat. One drawback is it can release enough heat to cause burns, which may be an acceptable side effect for the circumstances. The Army instead issues HemCon, a bandage made of shrimp shells which is not as versatile, leading some Army units to order their own QuikClot supply. Z-Medica is working on a new formulation which will emit less heat and of course they have their eyes on being a part of everyone's first aid kit in the future. By the way, Bourdain was evacuated along with other Americans by the USS Nashville, a ship built in my current homestate of Washington.
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