Drew's View

A Week Unplugged

A group of high school sophomores at L.A.'s California Academy for Liberal Studies Early College High School will forego all electronic devices for an entire week:

"I suspect that people will be going crazy," said student Jamila Mohedano, who doubts her own ability to go unplugged without becoming unglued.

Beginning today, the homeroom class of teacher Shannon Meyer will go cold turkey for seven endless days. We're talking no TV. No iPods. No iPhones. No BlackBerrys. No computers, which means no MySpace and no Facebook. And it gets worse. No cellphones. That means -- weep if you must -- no texting.

I know I would have a hard time doing this for any period of time, but I am certain that my high school age kids would rather die.

Article: LA Times: Students Unplugged — The Horror, The Horror!

The Abandoned Town of Centralia, Pennsylvania

Readers of my blog know I am fascinated by urban exploration. (See Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline and Amazing Rooftops in NYC). Centralia, Pennsylvania is an all-but-abandoned town (Population: 9). The town sits above an underground coal fire that has been burning since 1962, leaking toxic smoke to the surface. Most of the buildings have since been torn down, roads are cracking and overgrown, and in some areas the forest is returning.

Wikipedia entry: Centralia, Pennsylvania
Photo Essay: Jet Set Tramp: Fire Down Below
Via Boing Boing

Former US President Jimmy Carter: Ban Assault Weapons!

Jimmy Carter writes an excellent op-ed piece for the New York Times:

THE evolution in public policy concerning the manufacture, sale and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons like AK-47s, AR-15s and Uzis has been very disturbing. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and I all supported a ban on these formidable firearms, and one was finally passed in 1994.

When the 10-year ban was set to expire, many police organizations — including 1,100 police chiefs and sheriffs from around the nation — called on Congress and President George W. Bush to renew and strengthen it. But with a wink from the White House, the gun lobby prevailed and the ban expired.

My view differs from President Carter's only in that I would go much further. In addition to banning many types of firearms, I think guns of all types should be very difficult to license and obtain. And ammunition should be even more tightly controlled.

Article: New York Times: What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons? by Jimmy Carter

Holy Suction, Batman!

I saw this on the news the other night and was amazed. It seems that one of those big metal luggage-carrier containers was sucked into the engine of a 747 that was on a taxiway at LAX. Whoa.

Article: LA Times: Metal Baggage Container Sucked Into Jet Engine at Lax

The Economics of Seeing a Yankee's Game

I've been doing a lot of thinking and talking about the economics of sports tickets lately, both as a NHL season ticket holder and for a side-project I've been working on. So, this tidbit caught my eye: Tickets to the new Yankee stadium are so expensive that a Yankee fan might be better off going to see the team in another city--even clear across the country:

Choose one of the two options to see a Mariners-Yankees game this season, and from the very best seats:

Option 1: Two tickets to Tuesday night, June 30, Mariners at Yanks, cost for just the tickets, $5,000.

Option 2: Two round-trip airline tickets to Seattle, Friday, Aug. 14, return Sunday the 16th, rental car for three days, two-night double occupancy stay in four-star hotel, two top tickets to both the Saturday and Sunday Yanks-Mariners games, two best-restaurant-in-town dinners for two. Total cost, $2,800. Plus-frequent flyer miles.

Article: New York Post: Kay Shills as Fans Get $oaked
(via Kottke)

Memories of WWII

My old childhood friend Dave Hampton posted something fascinating on his blog: his Dad's old WWII diary. He posted scanned images of many of the pages in the journal. It's an amazing peek into the experiences of someone on the ground in Europe during the war, some of it courageous, some of i fearful, some of it mundane. All of it is fascinating.

Blog post: Dave Hampton's Blog: History and Memorial Day

Direct Link to the Scans: Dad's WWII Journal

In-n-Out. That's What a Hamburger's All About

BusinessWeek writer Stacy Perman has written a book about the western fast-food chain In-n-Out Burger. In-n-Out is a California tradition, and by far the best fast food that exists.

Perman observes that In-N-Out has prospered by hewing close to the stolid principles of controlled growth, limited menu, fresh food and regional focus -- with the exception of one store in Utah, its 232 locations are all in California, Nevada or Arizona -- set in stone by its founders, like commandments. (Harry died in 1976, his widow in 2006.) As a private company, In-N-Out doesn't release financial figures, though the trade press estimated sales in 2005 at $370 million -- a healthy sum for a small chain.

The intrigue is the machinations of the very-private family that owns the closely held company. 

The Snyders established a line of succession skipping over their older son, Guy, in favor of the more stable Richard. That well-laid plan dissolved with Richard's death in a 1993 plane crash. The inheritance passed to Guy, who had a history of drug abuse and died from an overdose of a prescription painkiller in 1999. With Esther's death seven years later, majority control became vested in two family trusts. It will pass after 2011 to Guy's only natural child, his daughter Lynsi Martinez, 27.

What little has been said about Martinez for public consumption comes from the 2006 court battle between the company and Richard Boyd, a former executive who said he had grown close to Esther, only to be shouldered aside by Lynsi and In-N-Out Chief Executive Mark Taylor, the husband of one of her half-sisters.

Sounds fascinating. I just hope it never effects the quality of the food. I might have to go get a Double-Double today.

Review: Los Angeles Times: In-N-Out: Can perfection survive?

Book: In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Perman

The White House official photostream

The White House has an official photostream on Flickr. It's fascinating to browse through these photos--really a real-time record of history in the making.

One has to wonder, what is discussed when President Obama and former President Clinton meet in the Oval Office? One of my favorites shows Obama climbing under the Resolute Desk like John-John Kennedy did, while meeting with Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. But perhaps the most interesting ones show the more ordinary moments, like Obama trying out different desk chairs.

By the way, what do I have to do to get a ride on Air Force One?

Ever heard of Photoshop?

You probably saw in the news that last week one of the 747 airplanes used for the President did several low-altitude flyby's of New York City while being trailed by two fighter jets. The intention was to get some publicity photos of the plane with the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan in the background. Somehow, it did not occur to anyone that some New Yorkers might find this unannounced activity startling.

Perhaps just as surprising, someone thought this was the simplest way to get the required image. The US spent $360,000 of taxpayer money on this photo opportunity. Skott Kelby, the editor-in-chief for Layers Magazine, Photoshop User magazine and the president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, spent less than two minutes creating this composite in Photoshop:

Skott has also made the following offer to the White House on his blog:

Rather than spending $360,000 somewhat foolishly (wink, wink), whatdayasay we work out a deal?

I’m trying to raise money for furniture and household appliances for an orphange in Kenya (run by Americans), and I’d be happy to actually take 90 minutes (or more; whatever it takes), and really do the compositing job right, and all you have to do is buy a freezer for around, say $360. You can keep the other $359,640 or give it to GM.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

Random Thoughts on the Porkalypse

Calling it "2009 H1N1" just does not have the panache of "Swine Flu." Personally, I prefer "Porkalypse."

141 people in the United States (population >304 Million) have the flu. And it has been the top story on every newscast and the front page of every newspaper I have seen for the past several days.

An elementary school near my home closed yesterday because six kids had flu-like symptoms. The district sent notices home that parents should plan for childcare, and keep their kids at home. Now all six kids have since tested negative for the flu, and the school will re-open tomorrow.

I can certainly understand that a flu bug for which no one has immunity is something to be concerned about, but this seems to heading past hype and into hysteria. (Side note: I love it when Anderson Cooper on CNN says "We are not trying to over-hype this," and then proceeds to cover it nonstop for an hour).

But above all, I love the practical tips that are on every newscast, in every article, and on signs everywhere you look: wash your hands and cover your coughs and sneezes. Is this new advice to anyone? Now, the CDC has posted a number of "Social Media Tools" that you can use on your blog or website to share this important advice online:

I swear, I am not making this up. I wonder what the CDC budget was for this.