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I won't be doing these things....

...but they sure look like fun:

As, Asa says:

Hit the HQ button and turn up the volume. You won't be disappointed.

Ampersands Anyone?

If you like ampersands you will love The Ampersand blog where the publisher says:

I like the ampersand. I think it is often the most attractive punctuation mark of them all. This blog is an attempt to give this humble character the respect it deserves.

Here is one from the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park that I don't believe has been featured yet at The Ampersand:

The above ampersand is the rotating element in this sculpture:

Mixed media installation with benches, tables, live tree, pathways and illuminated rotating element

For me the setting and this piece were the highlights of the park. Well, unless you are really into giant traffic cones (maybe to be shown in a future post).

Speaking of ampersands, Ampersand is always worth a read.

Hat tip Daring Fireball for the link to The Ampersand.

Not For the Vertigo Impaired

The Space Needle cleaning crew in action:

Photo: Karcher GmbH & Co.

Employees of Karcher GmbH & Co. are doing the work. They get paid. Karcher does not:

Early on, Kärcher determined that it would donate its cleaning services of public monuments, donating skilled labor as well as the technical, analytic and supervisory services necessary to complete such projects. Their reasoning was twofold: not only was the donation a goodwill gesture, but the feedback the company’s engineers received was invaluable in refining the innovation and manufacture of future cleaning systems.

To that end, Kärcher has carried out some 80 cleaning projects on historical monuments,...

Via Kottke.

Playing Glasses

Just listen:

Via In the Agora.

Last Thoughts....

...that have NEVER been uttered on a deathbed?

Roads That Would Make My Grandma Squeal

When I was younger the roads into many of Oregon's high mountain lakes were not paved. In fact they were often little more than a skinny single lane hanging over the edge of a cliff.

Grandma always went on our fishing trips to these lakes and, led by Grandpa, we gauged the danger of the road by the frequency and length of Grandma's squeals.

Dark Roasted Blend has a fascinating series on the World's Most Dangerous Roads.

This, for example, would have definitely rated a 10 on the squeal-o-meter:

Check out the rest of the series. There are "better" ones than the above!

So, You Want to Fly A Big Plane do You?

Check out the Airbus A380's cockpit:

Click on the image to go to a full 360 degree view.

The folks who created this have more interesting stuff in their portfolio. Never mind that the descriptions are in French; just check'm out!

Via haha.nu which also has a link to the Airbus Corporate Jet.

Spilled Any Hot Coffee Lately?

Memorializing Stella Liebeck here are the 2007 True Stella Awards :

The 2007 True Stella Awards

Issued February 2008

(Click here to confirm these are legitimate.)

#3: Sentry Insurance Company. The company provided worker's compensation insurance for a Wisconsin "Meals on Wheels" program. Delivering a meal, a MoW volunteer (who was allegedly not even wearing boots) slipped and fell on a participant's driveway that had been cleared of snow, and Sentry had to pay to care for her resulting injuries. Sentry wanted its money back, so it sued the 81-year-old homeowner getting the Meals on Wheels service. It could have simply filed for "subrogation" from her homeowner's insurance company, but by naming her in the action, it dragged an old lady into court, reinforcing the image of insurance companies as concerned only about the bottom line, not "protecting" policyholders from loss.

#2: The family of Robert Hornbeck. Hornbeck volunteered for the Army and served a stint in Iraq. After getting home, he got drunk, wandered into a hotel's service area (passing "DANGER" warning signs), crawled into an air conditioning unit, and was severely cut when the machinery activated. Unable to care for himself due to his drunkenness, he bled to death. A tragedy, to be sure, but one solely caused by a supposedly responsible adult with military training. Despite his irresponsible behavior -- and his perhaps criminal trespassing -- Hornbeck's family sued the hotel for $10 million, as if it's reasonably foreseeable that some drunk fool would ignore warning signs and climb into its heavy duty machinery to sleep off his bender.

But those pale compared to...

The winner of the 2007 True Stella Award: Roy L. Pearson Jr. The 57-year-old Administrative Law Judge from Washington DC claims that a dry cleaner lost a pair of his pants, so he sued the mom-and-pop business for $65,462,500. That's right: more than $65 million for one pair of pants. Representing himself, Judge Pearson cried in court over the loss of his pants, whining that there certainly isn't a more compelling case in the District archives. But the Superior Court judge wasn't moved: he called the case "vexatious litigation", scolded Judge Pearson for his "bad faith", and awarded damages to the dry cleaners. But Pearson didn't take no for an answer: he's appealing the decision. And he has plenty of time on his hands, since he was dismissed from his job. Last we heard, Pearson's appeal is still pending.

©2007 by Randy Cassingham, StellaAwards.com. Reprinted with permission.

Welcome to Carton World

Via haha.nu

Presents 2005 #1

For your cyclist: helmet covers. For example:

Via BoingBoing.