After Monday’s cancellation of race one of the 2010 America’s Cup Challenge, both Alinghi and BMW Oracle were looking to get their boats out on the water today.  Unfortunately the collision of two fronts off of Valencia, Spain has caused a washing machine effect throughout the 40 mile course.  The race has again been cancelled until Friday, when hopefully both super yachts will finally get to face off against each other.  Alinghi’s sleek Catamaran vs. BMW/Oracle’s 90’ by 90’ tri have changed this race from a tactic driven tacking duel to a straight out drag race.  Twenty miles up and 20 miles back.  An alternative course for race two will be 13 miles upwind with two 13 mile legs across the wind.  Both boats are cool to look at, something out of science fiction, and are capable of speeds three times greater than the wind, but I’ll miss the upwind battles for the windward mark.  Let’s hope they can actually have a race come Friday.  Linky

    Since the earthquake in Haiti there has been a lot of talk about earthquake safety.  This was sent to me and I have to say it is the best I’ve seen as of yet.  Filled with common sense the author lays out a new way to protect ourselves in an earthquake, “Triangle of Life.”  A lot of what he recommends goes against what we learned in school.  I never knew that “duck and cover” was a bad idea, or that door frames are actually more dangerous.  Wikilink

     “My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the
American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced
rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an
earthquake.
     I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from
60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member
of many rescue teams from many countries.
I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have
worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for
simultaneous disasters.
     The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City
during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was
crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying
down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I
wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know
that the children were told to hide under something. I am amazed that even
today schools are still using the ?Duck and Cover? instructions- telling the
children to squat under their desks with their heads bowed and covered with
their hands. This was the technique used in the Mexico City school.
Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling
upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space
or void next to them. This space is what I call the 'triangle of life'. The
larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the
object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the
person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time
you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the 'triangles' you see
formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a
collapsed building.
 

TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
     1) Almost everyone who simply 'ducks and covers' when buildings collapse ARE
CRUSHED TO DEATH. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are
crushed.
     2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You
should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. That
position helps you survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to
a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a
void next to it.
     3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an
earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If
the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also,
the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings
will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less
squashed bodies than concrete slabs. Concrete slab buildings are the most
dangerous during an earthquake.
     4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll
off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a
much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the
back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor,
next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
     5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the
door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a
sofa, or large chair.
     6) Almost everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is
killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or
backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls
sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be
killed!
     7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different 'moment of frequency
(they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and
remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural
failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they
fail are chopped up by the stair treads ? horribly mutilated. Even if the
building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a
likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not
collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by
fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest
of the building is not damaged.
     8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible - It
is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the
interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the
building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
     9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in
an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened
with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the
San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all
killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and lying in the
fetal position next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived
if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them.
All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars
that had columns fall directly across them.
     10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and
other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids
are found surrounding stacks of paper.
 

     In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct.
The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul , University of Istanbul
Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific
test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten
mannequins did 'duck and cover,' and ten mannequins I used in my 'triangle
of life' survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled
through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the
results.
     The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly
observable, scientific conditions, relevant to building collapse, showed
there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover.
There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my
method of the 'triangle of life.' This film has been seen by millions of
viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe , and it was seen in
the USA , Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.
Spread the word and save someone's life... The entire world is experiencing
natural calamities so be prepared!”

Verily, it tied the room together.

And there we have the Big Lebowski with one of his most famous lines.

[linky]

http://xkcd.com/695/

It works soooo hard too.

Mount Everest from a Mile Above  …linky

This awe-inspiring photograph captures the majesty of Mount Everest as you've never seen it before - from more than a mile above.

The spectacular panorama shows the breathtaking landscape of the Himalayas from six miles above sea level. It was shot by an intrepid British photographer wearing breathing apparatus in -56C temperatures 36,000 feet up.

It is believed to be the highest panoramic picture taken by hand from a balloon, and was described by mountaineer Reinhold Messner as the 'best snap on earth'.

'Best snap on Earth': Everest dominates the picture, shot from 36,000ft and in -56C temperatures by Leo Dickinson on the world's first-ever balloon flight over the highest mountain. The curvature of the planet is exaggerated by the wide-angle lens.

The summit of Everest, the world's highest peak at 29,035ft, takes centre stage above the 11,000ft vertical drop of the Kangshung Face, on the eastern side of the mountain.

British filmmaker and adventure cameraman Leo Dickinson took the photo from the stratosphere during his record-breaking balloon flight over Everest.

With Nepal on the left of the frame and Tibet on the right, the stunning skyline westward shows nine of the planet's highest summits.

These include Lhotse (27,940ft), Cho Oyu (26,906ft), Gyachung Kang (26,089 feet), Nuptse (25,850ft), Peak 38 (24, 904ft), Changtse (24,770ft), Shartse (24,471ft) and Ama Dablam (22,349ft).

Up, up and away: Adventure filmmaker Leo Dickinson in his hot air balloon over the Himalayas shortly before he took the photo

Mr Dickinson, 62 & married, soared to 36,000ft - where temperatures dropped to minus 56 degrees Celsius - to become the first person to fly over Everest in a balloon.

He took this picture using a hand-held 35mm camera with a wide-angle lens while standing in the balloon's wicker cabin. The original photograph was shot in 1991 on the classic Kodachrome film - axed last month due to the rise of digital cameras. It was digitally remastered for the first time this week.

Dickinson of Budleigh Salterton, Devon , said: 'This photograph is one of the finest I've taken, and I'm immensely proud of it'.

'It took several minutes to set up - I was in the stratosphere and carrying bulky breathing apparatus - and I wasn't sure it would even come out'.

'So when it was developed, and it came out like this, you can imagine my delight. It's a scene that I'll remember for the rest of my life.' 

Dickinson's Everest expedition took 10 years to plan, involved 150 porters and 50 yaks, and almost cost him his life. His epic journey from the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu to Tibet was chronicled in an award-winning documentary Ballooning Over Everest.

*Thanks for this post goes to Lazy MO

I was sent this link and I have to say it’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen on the internet in a while.  Imagine you’re asleep and yet you speak coherently.  Your wife records you and puts the results on the Internet.  Recipe for hilarity.  To understand how this guy’s mind works would be very interesting, to have such vivid dreams and then speak out loud.  I wonder if he has conversations while he’s sleeping?  Here are a few of his quotes that I thought were excellent and need to add to my repertoire:

"You can stop clapping now if you want. Really. You'll need your energy for cheering me later. Shhhhhhhh. shhhhhhhh."

"Don't... Don't put the noodles and the dumplings together in the boat. They'll fight! The noodles are bullies. Poor dumplings."

"I'd rather peel off my skin and bathe my weeping raw flesh in a bath of vinegar than spend any time with you. But that's just my opinion. Don't take it personally."

"You can't be a pirate if you haven't got a beard. I said so. MY boat, MY rules."

"Hey, don't... don't say anything. Why don't you put it in an email, then I can ignore it at my pleasure."

"Peeing standing up rules!"

"WHHOOOoooooooooooo... falling down.............. plop."

"Look out! Marshmallows!"

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9629732