NY Times: Statues Seem Ready to Leap, but Police Say They Won’t.
“They stand about six feet tall and look like naked human beings. Over the next few days, 27 of them will be scattered across rooftops and ledges of buildings in Midtown Manhattan — including the Empire State Building — as part of a public art exhibition. About the same time that the first figure was placed atop a four-story building at 25th Street and Fifth Avenue on Tuesday, the Police Department issued a statement reassuring New Yorkers that the figures are not despondent people on the verge of leaping to their deaths.” Nothing like eliciting a panic reaction. Is that an ‘artistic success’, I wonder?
Guardian.UK: Libel tourism is a public health risk.
“Libel laws have good reason to exist — to stop irresponsible reporting. However, British laws so favour one side they are used to intimidate journalists in other countries — ‘libel tourism.’ A US citizen can write for a US paper and be called up before courts here.” Laws that reach beyond borders ... lovely. As if we don’t have enough libel/liability problems here in the US already.
CNN: ‘Tuscan Sun’ author on Italy’s pleasures.
Frances Mayes spills on what a ‘first timer’ should do when visiting Italy. Filing this one away for future ref.
Discover: Beer Consumption Increases Human Attractiveness to Malaria Mosquitoes.
”These results suggest that beer consumption is a risk factor for malaria and needs to be integrated into public health policies for the design of control measures.” So, I suppose you stick to G&T;’s in the tropics ...
Reuters: Life of wine.
Boston Globe, The Big Picture: Chile, nine days later.
“Nine days after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake killed hundreds of people in south-central Chile, relief efforts were beginning to reach those in need, rescue missions became recovery missions, and rebuilding is already under way.”
NY Times: New Jersey Transit Seeks Higher Fares.
25%?!!! Only linked because I used to buy monthlies from Princeton Junction to NYC. And it cost over $300/month back in the early ‘90’s! 25%. I feel for ya, Joisians.
NY Times: Paddleboarding in Hawaii.
CNN: Texas police warn spring breakers: Stay out of Mexico border towns.
”Recent violent attacks have caused the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of Michoacan, Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua ... and to advise U.S. citizens residing or traveling in those areas to exercise extreme caution.” The situation’s not stellar at the moment, so listen to this advice.
WSJ: Surface Improvements at Times Square and Herald Square.
“With businesses, urban planners and the mayor’s office solidly behind the idea that proponents said would not only speed traffic but also seduce more tourists, cheer up lunchtime office workers and attract more customers to local stores, why isn’t the DOT taking more assertive steps in making the plazas attractive? Epoxy gravel is hardly the stuff of inspiring design.” Similar problem here in Santa Fe. We can’t even agree on grass in the Plaza here, when other Western towns are putting planters overflowing with flowers on corners and even in the middle of main streets. Hanging baskets of flowers under overhangs. On my trip up to Grand Teton NP in ‘05, I was surprised by how much effort other towns put into aesthetics, compared to our own.
Mother Jones: Sting’s Uzbek Dictator Problem.
”Famed rockers regularly play private gigs for people you might not enjoy meeting on a street corner. There was the New Year’s gig Beyonce played for Moammar Qaddafi’s son, Hannibal; Jimmy Buffett’s appearance at the infamous orgy of decadence thrown by ex-Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski for his wife; and the intimate affairs Michael Jackson and Celine Dion put on for the Sultan of Brunei (whose regime is not known for its hospitality toward women, or its appreciation of human rights).” Remember the song ’Sun City‘?
justBcoz: 20 Lessons from the last decade.
Whether you’re a web design firm in America or in South Africa, the lessons are the same. Offhand, I’d add: Be sure to encourage clients to set an advertising budget and parcel out advertising dollars based on performance (note I say performance, not profit ... money alone won’t make you a success). I’m seeing a great deal more folks show up with stars in their eyes, having attended seminars convincing them that Twitter alone will make them zillionaires. It’s the “Amazon” effect we web designers dealt with ten years ago, when everyone thought a web site alone would make them millions. Websites and Twitter are just single facets in the great cubic zirconia of advertising (never a diamond; puh-leez).
The Coolist: L’Arc Paris Restaurant + Club.
Very nice, but is it too much to ask, to see people in the space?
Times Online.UK: Severn surfers ride once-a-decade tidal wave.
”A once-in-a-decade tidal wave surged down the River Severn this morning carrying a horde of surfers relishing the rare natural phenomenon.” Nothing like surfing muddy water.
Times Online.UK: 5,200 Australians strip for art’s sake.
”I want all couples to embrace and kiss, all friends to kiss and all strangers to do whatever they want.” So strangers could keep their clothes on?
Don’t like heights?
Don’t watch this.
CNN: Sirens in Hawaii warn of possible tsunami.
“Citing the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the senators said some areas of Hawaii could see an initial 10 to 15 foot rise and that waves could continue for at least six hours.” Be safe!
The Hollywood Reporter: Studio must pay for destroying Jesus Christ.
Copyright catastrophe. Like I’ve maintained for a while, eventually all travel photography will be dead as a stone, because those picturesque nomads, compelling antiquities and ancient archaeological sites will be protected by the internet and attorneys. The Pyramids are going to be copyrighted, for instance.
Gizmodo: The Blade That Would Make Helicopters Almost Silent.
Yeah, but what does it do to performance/gas consumption?
New Scientist: Killer whale: the clue’s in the name.
The trainers have to know they’re working with highly dangerous animals. Just a quick peruse of Youtube, you find trainers knocked silly [vid implies this may be the same trainer who was killed], nearly drowned. Some people rock climb without ropes, some people skydive. I’d like to say this is the same, but there’s the whales themselves to consider. Keeping them locked up in a small pen is cruelty, in my book.
Reuters: Heavy winter storms lambaste Northeast.
Linked for one reason: “lambaste”?!! Sounds like I wrote the headline ...
NPR: Archives Bans Photography In Rotunda.
I can’t blame them. How hard is it to learn how to operate your own camera? Too hard, it seems. Not that point-and-shoot controls are ergonomic and clear, however.
NewWest.Net: Why Cody, Wyoming is the New Literary Capital of America.
“Wyoming has the smallest population of any U.S. state, but it maintains a literary output that rivals most other places.”
Atlantic, Business: Secret to Happiness, Solved: Go to College, Move West.
“The Atlantic’s demographic expert Richard Florida poured through some data on his blog yesterday and concluded that the factor that correlated most highly with cities’ self-reported happiness was ... percentage of college degrees. Does that mean, as Catherine Rampell offers, that education makes you happy?”
Miller-McCune: Studying Drunken Promiscuity at Mardi Gras.
“68 percent of the men and 63 percent of the women reported having at least five or six drinks per sitting. Almost one-quarter of the men reported having at least 16 drinks per sitting; 15 percent of women reported the same.” I wouldn’t be functional with that amount of alcohol.
