Coconuts Call Airport to Complain

by Justin Glow on

See that thing up there? That’s a coconut. With a cell phone in it. Tad Hirsch — a research student who focuses on “the intersections between art, activism, and technology” — created it as a way to monitor the obtrusive sound of low-flying airplanes in the San Jose, California area. When excessive aircraft noise is detected, the coconut rings the San Jose International airport and leaves one of four prerecorded complaint messages. My favorite one says, “I’m trying to listen to my Steven Hawking book on tape and airplanes keep flying by. I can’t hear my iPod.”

I guess this is serious. Or it could be a joke. It’s billed as “art,” I think, so I guess it doesn’t really matter one way or another. Regardless, there it is; Take it how you want it. You should at least listen to the prerecorded messages because those are interesting. And maybe funny. And a bit weird. This whole thing is a bit weird. I’m scared.

[via]

Pack It Out…All Out on Mt. Whitney

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s something interesting:

When hiking Mt. Whitney, you must carry out your own feces. Isn’t that just the thing you wanted to know on this quiet, lovely Sunday?

You see, I know this unpleasant-sounding fact, because I am, literally, headed there now. If luck, weather and good health are with me, I will have summited the lower 48’s tallest peak by Tuesday afternoon.

It’s an exciting prospect, a bit daunting, but I just can’t get it out of my mind that I am going to have to carry around my own, well, waste. This is a new mandatory policy at Whitney, one started earlier this year after they removed the last of the miles-high outhouses at the two big camps on the mountain.

According to various posts over at the Whitney site, these outhouses never worked well anyway and they stunk to, ahem, high-heaven. But rather than build fancy new, high-tech outhouses that say, zap your feces with Higgs Bosons and convert them into recycled cups or something, the Forest Service went decidedly low-tech. They said, from now on, people will have to pack it out. Pack it ALL out. And so now at Whitney (like at various other mountains in CA…ie.e Mt. Shasta) you will now have to get your hands on what is called a WAG bag, and inside, dear friends, is where you will collect and store and carry your previous evening’s fully digested meal. Isn’t nature lovely!?

By the way, if anyone has any advice on doing Whitney, or interesting WAG bag experiences, do share!

How Come Tintin Didn’t Make The Cut?

by Brett Atkinson on

Our friends at World Hum have just named their 10 greatest fictional travellers ranging from cutesy Dora the Explorer at number 10 up to Jack Kerouac’s uber cool Sal Paradise at number 1.

To my Kiwi eyes, the list is a little United States-centric, and as much as I love On the Road, Sal Paradise didn’t really get far on a global basis did he? But I guess he deserves to be there purely for how much inspiration the book’s given to those of us afflicted with wanderlust.

A few notable exceptions I’d like to add are Phileas Fogg from Jules Verne’s Around the World In 80 Days, the globe-trotting Carmen San Diego, and Belgium’s biggest export after Trappist beer, Tintin.

If the T-shirts in the markets of Asia are to be believed, that boy’s been everywhere. Even a few places author Herge didn’t even write about.

Thanks to Mullenkedheim on Flickr for the pic “proving” Tintin went to Hanoi.

Photo of the Day (8/21/2007)

by Erik Olsen on

This photo almost looks like the photographer, Stormygirl, was a little heavy-handed with the orange color adjustment in Photoshop. Alas, the colors here are apparently real, and make for a wonderfully soothing photo of the Northern California coast. She apparently shot this on the Fourth of July, though it is thankfully bereft of any chintzy fireworks explosions. You might say that the oohs and ahhs you hear are the appreciative sighs from those of us who share her love of the Golden State. Then again, you might not.

Pageant of the Masters: Replicating Paintings with Live Performers

by Neil Woodburn on

Imagine becoming part of a living painting.

That’s the idea behind Pageant of the Masters, a two-month long series of performances in Laguna Beach, California in which famous paintings are replicated by human performers meticulously covered in layers of paint that match the original creation.

The result is 90 minutes of three dimensional, life-size reproductions of masterful paintings. The performers stand absolutely motionless on stage and blend in with the backgrounds of the paintings. The living portraits are accompanied by a full orchestra performing an original score as well as a narrator who tells the story of the paintings featured.

It’s all really quite amazing. And best thing is that you can coax your kids into enjoying some fine art and culture by telling them that will be visiting the real life set of Laguna Beach.

But hurry up if you want to go. The Festival ends on August 31.