SEARCH   
 Google Extra-Strength
 Google Image Search
 Google Usenet Search
 Yahoo Video Search

NEWS
 WIRED Sans Banners
 STRATFOR Spook News
 Google News Portal

WORDS
 Merriam-Webster

TRANSLATION
 Altavista's Babelfish
 PROMPT FR + DE

MAPS+DIRECTIONS
 Mapquest

WEATHER
 JIMWICh Realtime

ZIP CODES
 USPS ZIP+4 Lookup

BLOGS
 bOING bOING
 StreetTech
 weblogsky
 memepool
 LarkFarm
 Mister Pants
 Electrolite
 Kaliber10000
 Le Blogeur
 Follow Me Here
 Dr. Menlo
 gmt+9
 abbuddhas memes
 wood s lot
 WorldChanging
 PhotoDude
 fredshead
 Quarlo
 Boxes And Arrows
 Synthetic Zero
 Overmorgen
 The WELL's inkwell.vue

BANDZ
 Delaware
 Phil Dirt's Surf's Up!
 Pollo Del Mar
 Jetpack

JIMWICh Sites
 JIMWICh the Fotolog
 JIMWICh the Fotothing
 JIMWICh on Flickr
 ( jleft ) on the WELL
 JIMWICh.com/net/org
 anigami
 JIMWICh at ryze.org
 JIMWICh at LinkedIn
 Mr. Woodczuch
 lumn8
 evoxa

email:
jimwich at anigami dot com

UPDATE on Expedition Commitment Everest 2001

(see previous JIMWICh entry on Mountain Adventures Unlimited's Everest 2001 expedition) After a grueling month on Everest, Brant Didden and two other members of his team, Doug and Rick got their shot at a summit bid on May 20th. With them were two Sherpas, Boca and Pasang. Their climb was via the South Col route.

Expedition members Doug and Rick succeeded in summiting about 9:15am, while Brant was unfortunately forced to turn back at 28,200 ft. when his oxygen equipment malfunctioned. This must have been a very difficult decision to make, but proves what an incredibly professional climber Brant is. He then had to descend alone to the South Col without supplemental oxygen! Quite a harrowing story. The group then made it safely back down the mountain, after crossing the Khumbu icefalls where conditions had really deteriorated.

What an amazing adventure! I'm so glad everyone stayed well and will shortly be on their way home to their families.
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/27/2001 10:26:58 PM

Andrew Abb's always awesome Osaka-based blog, gmtPlus9, just turned two years old this week. Art history, interesting photography, strange items, obsessive collections, graffiti, urban ruins, cultural news and other interesting things from Japan and around the world are always to be found here. Happy birthday gmtPlus9!
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/25/2001 8:84:39 PM

In Europe, there's a vehicle category that exists in the nether region between scooters and automobiles. Presently there are a couple of stylish inhabitants of this niche.

BMW C1

The Germans' contribution - the BMW C1 - Not Your Father's Isetta

BMW C1 Images: -1- -2- -3- -4- -5-, Tim Zukunft's Gallery (which includes several cool Eurofashion variants from Louis Vuitton), the C1 Prototype, and a glimpse of what's to come - the BMW C8 prototype (Babelfish translated).

Here's a glimpse of the C1 minus its body panels.

Reviews of the BMW C1: BMW Motorrad, Castrol Bike World, Fleet News Net, BMWclub.org.

Benelli Adiva

Then there's the Italian's sleek beauty, the Benelli Adiva (In Italian - Sorry, but Babelfish choked on this). The Adiva is a cool cabriolet, in that it's top folds back and stows away behind the seat.

- Benelli company info and Adiva image
- Taking down the Adiva's top
- Front view of the Adiva
- Adiva Research and Development

Here's a Motorsport.it review of the Adiva (Babelfish translated).

The Bizzarini

The Europeans continue to lead the world in the design and manufacturing of innovative and ecologically superior vehicles. While it's often said that the American market won't support these alternatives, I'm finding that increasingly hard to believe. For one thing, think there's a real dearth of exposure to these well-designed smaller alternatives. I think there are enormous latent markets here, especially among the younger demographic, that would materialize if there were more media exposure. MTV! Listen up!

And I couldn't resist posting a link to the whimsical Bizzarini, displayed at the 2000 Turin Auto Show. Bless the Italians!
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/22/2001 9:41:50 PM

The StreetTech.com B.S. Detector

Finally the wraps are off!

Go check out the B.S. Detector from the folks at StreetTech.com. I had a hand in this, along with StreetTech's Gareth Branwyn and Tim Tate. As Gareth points out, B.S. stands for "Buzzword Saturation."

Type (or use the paste button) a URL of a site and click the start button. Then sit back while the contraption chugs away, fills the B.S. tank, and delivers its verdict. URLs of e-business press releases are great fun to feed into the machine. Like this one.

Here's a page explaining how the B.S. Detector works.
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/18/2001 1:52:17 PM

DaimlerChrysler AG Smart Car

Keep hope alive! This week's issue of Newsweek has an article on the DaimlerChrysler AG's Smart Car, and it's possible introduction to the United States in 2003. There was a mention of this last autumn, but there are still safety hurdles that must be cleared before the Smart will be allowed in. There are also plans afoot for a four-seat version.

Smart Crossblade Concept Car

Meanwhile, at the 71st International Geneva Motor Show 2001, the hot looking Smart Crossblade cabriolet concept model was unveiled. Wow!

While the Smart might not do so well in a duel with one of the ridiculously large SUVs that many Americans are careening around in these days, I think there's an enormous pent-up demand for such a well-designed and efficient town vehicle. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/17/2001 1:14:39 PM

German Molch (Salamander)

World War II saw a number of miniature submarines, including the one-man, two-torpedo Biber (Beaver) created by the Germans in 1944 to use against merchant shipping. Though 324 were produced and many saw action, the Biber was plagued with torpedo accidents and a majority of those that went to sea failed to return.

There were other German miniature subs, including the Seehund (Seal), and the Molch (Salamander). Here's a summary of the German midget submarine operations. Here's a gallery of German midget subs.

The Germans also produced "manned torpedos" including the Neger (Negro) and the Marder (Pine Marten), which were for all practical purposes suicide craft sent on volunteer-only Opferkämpfer (sacrifice missions).

The Japanese also produced various midget subs. Here's one discovered in Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7, 1941. A number of these small two-man subs also attacked Sydney Harbour in Australia.

The Ictíneo - Spain 1856

The history of precursors to the modern submarine is fascinating and filled with subs both whimsical and impressive.

The Ictíneo, a marvelous wooden fish-shaped submarine, was built in 1856 by Narciso Monturiol, (Monturiol I Estarriol, Narcís (1819-1885). ÊIt was launched at Barcelona on the June 28, 1859. On a voyage on September 23th, the Ictíneo remained submerged for two hours. The Ictíneo has been restored and is on display in Barcelona.

Intelligent Whale U.S. Navy - 1869

The Intelligent Whale was an experimental submarine purchased by the United States Navy in 1869. It was hand propelled and was air-pressurized.

Unfortunately, during the Intelligent Whale's only test run in 1872, it flooded. The crew managed to escape but the Navy abandoned further tests of the craft.
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/15/2001 11:56:17 AM

I had a miniature adventure yesterday! The other night, Paul Kamen, naval architect, sailor, and current Chairman of the Berkeley Waterfront Commission, emailed me to say he was being interviewed by City Confidential for an upcoming program they were in town to make. He had read my post on The WELL (where we're both long-time members) in the television conference saying how much I loved the City Confidential program on the Lobster Boy and the circus overwintering town of Gibsonton, Florida. Here's a great review of City Confidential on Suck, which I think captures the aura of this program in fine fashion. The programs are narrated by Paul Winfield, whose deep voice has just the perfect mix of cyncism and lurid sarcasm. The show reminds me of a noir 1960s detective pulp mag.

I told him it was a great show, and one of the few I really like. He invited me to come along, so yesterday morning I grabbed my Nikon and headed over to meet him and the production crew at the Berkeley Yacht Club at the Berkeley Marina, where we would go out on one of the club's yachts for his interview. I was along to pull ropes and keep water off the cameras and recording equipment if necessary.

I would never pass up a day of sailing on San Francisco Bay!

The story City Confidential is documenting involves a 1987 murder case where one Berkeley Waterfront Commissioner murdered another Commissioner. At the time, Paul was on the board of the Berkeley Yacht Club, and knew the two Commissioners. I won't say more. You'll have to wait to see the program!

Incidentally, later on when the trial was held, Paul was sailing solo from Berkeley to Hawaii! The trip took him sixteen days to get there and twenty-seven to return. But that's another story! Paul's an experienced sailor. Here's Paul's sailing resume and here's Paul's page on the Pacific Cup race to Hawaii which he's involved with.

The City Confidential interview took place while we made trips back and forth along the length of one of the Marina slips. This made it easier for them to interview Paul with an interesting background scrolling by behind. We would get to one end and come around to sail back down to the other end a quarter mile or so in length. The lighting only worked well in one direction, so the interview necessitated that we sail back and forth a number of times. We took the front jib down on the trips where the camera rolled, so that the trip would be a slower ten minutes or so. Then we'd raise the jib and sail back to repeat. The interview took place over about a dozen or so trips back and forth. Paul humorously noted that it was sorta like the way the weightless scenes in Apollo 13 had to be filmed in twenty second takes while the plane they were filming in went into a weightless diving parabola. Over and over.

The producer, Matt Sattley, cameraman, Eric, and sound technician, Doug were all really fun to hang out with. Eric was from my college town of Kansas City, and had done camera work on the great City Confidential Lobster Boy program! And Paul's stories of Berkeley and the history of the Waterfront Commission and the Berkeley Yacht Club in the 1970s and '80s were really interesting. Later we took the boat out on the Bay for some real sailing. All in all a great time, and my first time to sit in on a television program production!
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/10/2001 1:52:04 PM

It makes me feel all good 'n stuff to see people fighting for the independent voice. And in the blog community, there are none more passionate than Dr. Menlo. A young writer from Seattle who's a contributor to Andrei Codrescu's literary journal, Exquisite Corpse, Dr. Menlo has one of the most unique weblogs on the net. His is an ever-changing stream of images from our world, reflecting his values and passionate views. Whether or one agrees with Dr. Menlo is, in my opinion, not nearly as important as recognizing the power of a young passionate voice standing up and having the courage to put it out there.

Whatever the deal is behind the fracas he's been embroiled in lately (which you can read about on his site), it certainly has moved him to pen some righteous words in defense of the independent voice on the internet. He speaks powerfully of the emerging weblog community of independent voices. He points out the many real voices that are rising up to offer a real and human alternative to the dead and soul-free corporate portal model.

In honor of Dr. Menlo's ongoing service to images, words, and truth about our blue and green planet and all of it's varied inhabitants, I was inspired to make a clickbanner in support of his spirit and passion.

Keep Givin' 'em Hell, Dr. Menlo!
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/8/2001 11:46:17 PM

Hot Wheels™ Jack "Rabbit"™ Special

Back in the summer of 1970 between third and fourth grades, my favorite Saturday morning cartoon was Hot Wheels™. Actually, I got up at 6:30am and started the morning with Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, which was a sorta down-under marsupial version of Flipper. Then came Daktari, with Clarence the cross-eyed lion. But sometime mid-morningish came the Hot Wheels™ cartoon and the racecar I loved so much - the Jack "Rabbit"™ Special. It was driven by the cartoon's protagonist driver, Jack Wheeler, who was always getting into races/fights with his nemesis, Dexter (voiced by Casey Kasem), who drove the Demon.

Here's a collection of old Hot Wheels television commercials from 1969 to 1972 in RealPlayer format. I remember the one with Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen and Don "The Snake" Prudhomme! And it's insane for people to claim that MTV was the fountainhead of the modern hyper-edited media format. Just check out the raw adrenalinized twitch of 1970's Rod Runner Race Set™! Now add that brain-searing stimulus to the morning's cereal bowl sugar slurry and you can see why this was all burnt into my memory banks!

I remember that I crashed and burned on my old pre-Orange Krate Stingray that late Spring while going down a long and steep gravel road hill with the neighbor kid Ray riding behind me. I tore up my right elbow something fierce, and had to go to the doctor's office for stitches. But that same day I got my official 1970 Hot Wheel's Membership Kit, catalog, and special club members only silver Boss Hoss™ Mustang! I remember gazing at that little silver car while the doc worked on my arm. I still bear the proud "Hot Wheels Scar."

The Jack "Rabbit"™ Special was so clean. It was my favorite Hot Wheels car by far. It's lines were pure. No gorp or artifice, or goofy silliness like some of the other Hot Wheels. I'm convinced it's why I eventually fell in love with the Fiero GT and bought an '87 model in the autumn of 1986.

My original Jack "Rabbit"™ Special is probably buried somewhere in my parents' backyard now. I remember it survived many rocket-powered races, given that a bottlerocket could be conveniently inserted under the little raised rollprotector/spoiler behind the seats. Whoosh!

This cool little car fueled a lot of my boyhood daydreams.
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/7/2001 10:52:04 PM

Mutant News: First Genetically-Altered Humans Born

The BBC reported Friday that scientists from the United States have revealed that the first human infants with artificially-altered genetics have been born. The babies were reportedly born healthy and are now a year old.

An experimental program at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St. Barnabus in New Jersey led to the births of up to thirty children. In the experiments, genes from donor women were added to the eggs of infertile women in an experimental treatment to boost their fertility. Two of the children subsequently born have been shown through tests to carry a small number of genes not inherited from either of their parents.

The research was published in Human Reproduction, a British science journal. "This is the first case of human germline modification resulting in normal healthy children," clamed Case Western Reserve University genetic expert, Eric Juengst, in an interview with the BBC. He continued with the cautionary warning, "It should trouble those committed to transparent public conversation about the prospect of using 'reprogenetic' technologies to shape future children."
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/6/2001 8:12:47 PM

Did you know you can play one of the world's largest instruments right from where you're sitting this very minute? Yes! You're about to become a silophonist! The Silophone is an astonishing sonic repurposing of one of the largest grain silos ever built, the Silo No. 5 in Montréal, Canada.

Silo #5B-1 was built in 1958 in Montréal's old port. It was used to store grain which came via railroad to be shipped out via the St. Lawrence Seaway. In 1996, when the global grain market no longer supported its use, the elevator was abandoned. Since then it has remained empty. The structure is constructed entirely of reinforced concrete. It's 650 feet long, 52 feet wide and approximately 146 feet high. It's composed of 115 vertical chambers, each 100 feet high and up to 26 feet in diameter. The architectural form of these tall parallel cylinders just happens to work fine as a humongous organ, and possesses exceptional acoustic properties: reverberations last over 20 seconds! Anything played inside the Silo is euphonized, made beautiful, by the acoustics of the structure.

Wow.

When it was new, Silo 5 was cited by Le Corbusier as a masterpiece of modern architecture. This is really a beautiful quote, and ironically, it even fits well with the structure's current transformation.
(Le Corbusier always inspires me to write more heroically)

Okay, so now we're in a new new time. Musicians and audiophiles of the world, rise up and bring the crush of your sounds against the dying architecture! Provided, of course, you have RealPlayer installed (there's a free version of RealPlayer available for download).

Go pick out song snippets or sound samples from the over 6,000 already uploaded to the site, or upload your own, and then have it euphonized and played back to you on the magnificent Silophone of Montréal. Now that's livin' large!

Thanx for this tip goes to Wayne, my good bud of twenty years! He found it on the National Public Radio site, where it was a story on the daily program, All Things Considered.
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/4/2001 2:05:43 AM

Brant Didden Founder of Mountain Adventures Unlimited

Brant Didden, founder of Mountain Adventures Unlimited, and the mountain guide who led me and my two friends Dan Plankenhorn and Mamud Janbakhsh on a climb of Banner Peak in the California Sierras in 1996 is now on an expedition to make a summit bid on Mount Everest! I've been following it on their website with great interest and excitement!

Here are two galleries of their Expedition Commitment Everest 2001
- Everest Image Gallery 1
- Everest Image Gallery 2

And, unfortunately, great sadness. Brant and his group were climbing with world renowned Babu Chiri Sherpa, a 10 time Everest summiter (plus record holder for fastest ascent of Everest and who once stayed atop Everest without using auxiliary oxygen for an astounding and unprecedented 21 hours) and his partner Lhawang Dhundup and their company Nomad Expeditions. Brant's group left the States in mid-March and will have until the end of May to summit. Their plan is to attempt the South East Ridge route (standard route on the South side) which utilizes the South Col as high camp at approximately 26,000 ft. altitude. But just three days ago, on April 29th, 2001 tragedy struck and Babu Chiri Sherpa, while out alone, fell to his death in a 200 meter deep crevasse near Camp II (20,150 ft. altitude).

In addition to his climbing, Babu Chiri was involved in a very important humanitarian endeavor. He headed The Babu Chiri Balkalyaan Nepal School Project to build new schools in the Solo Khumbu region of Nepal. Until recently there has been a shortage of formal educational or learning centers for children in the remote hill villages of the Khumbu. Babu Chiri (born, raised and living in the Khumbu) had dedicated his life to providing education and hope for the children in this region.

Expedition Commitment is aiding the school project by donating the necessary funds to purchase critical supplies for the school in Taksindu, and help with the funding of the construction of a new school. Mountain Adventures Unlimited has committed itself to this worthy cause.

- Brant with Babu and Karma at Nomad Expedition headquarters
- Article in Outside Online on Babu Chiri Sherpa's death
- Feature Article on Babu Chiri Sherpa in Outside Online - April 2001

There was an update regarding this on M.A.U.'s Everest Update site today. Brant says the team is devastated by Babu's death, but has decided to continue the climb and dedicate it to Babu. They're leaving for Camp II day after tomorrow to make a carry to Camp IV. They're aiming for a mid-May summit bid.

Brant's an extraordinarily skilled climber, with experience on big walls and numerous peaks in Mexico and South America.

He's also a remarkable and patient soul with one of the deepest respects for nature and the wilderness that I've ever met. On our trip he embued our experience with a sense of the profound and sublimely spiritual. He's also a great camp chef!

Banner Peak (12,945 ft.) from Thousand Islands Lake ©1996 Jim Leftwich

The Sierras trip listed above is like the one we made in 1996. While requiring nowhere near the level of mountaineering skills needed to scale the world's higher peaks, the Sierras still offer an amazingly challenging adventure. Dan, Mamud, and I (Brant in background) had prepared through vigorous workouts all summer before making the trip and it was still a real piece of work. I can only wonder what it has to be like taking on something like Everest. Brant taught us a number of snowfield climbing techniques with crampons and ice axes, and we learned self-arrest techniques, route-finding skills, and avalanche safety. We also did some roped rock climbing and rappelling as well.

Here's a photo of Brant during the early morning of our ascent of of Banner Peak.

I would urge any of you in decent physical condition, and with a spirit of adventure to consider taking on a guided mountain climb someday. It's a thrill you'll remember for the rest of your life and it will drive you to inspiring experiences you just can't get any other way.

Brant, godspeed to you and your team! May you all have great success in your climbing as well as in spirit, and may you return safely.
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/2/2001 12:01:43 AM

Vastupurushu Mandala

Among the forty ancient Vedic texts of India, the study of architecture, sculpture, placement, and art is known as Sthapatya Veda. The roots of the word, Sthapatya, are in the meaning "to establish." A central idea in this school of thought is the concept of silence. In the Vedic cosmology, all of life exists as a whole in an unbounded field of pure creative intelligence. At the heart of this unbounded field is a silent heart, and it is from this silent center that the entire universe springs. This unbounded and silent center is represented in all architecture.

The idea "to establish" stems from Sthapatya "establishing" consciousness, or creative intelligence, in the physical environment. The design process, as well as the actual embodiment of the design, is preceeded by this established consciousness. In this way, parts are created individually while their connecting interrelationships as a whole are simultaneously established. Speaking personally, I find that this resonates very strongly with my own sense of the interrelationships within the whole in my own design of interactive systems. I've long been a natural and intutive practitioner of lateral thinking in innovation, design, and the architecture of efficient and user friendly systems and lateral thinking is at the heart of Vatsushastra (the science of Vatsu).

On a human scale, this process connects the individual to the greater whole, and the particular instantiation with the absolute or ideal.

There are three principles interwoven in Sthapatya Veda:

1 - Right Direction (spatially and temporally)
2 - Right Proportion
3 - Right Placement

Together these three principles combine to form a Vastupurusha Mandala (translates to: form-being-diagram), which is employed in the selection of the site as well as direct the development of each aspect of the building. Here is a guide to the application of Vatsushastra.

A common feature of this type of building architecture is a central space known as the Brahmastan. This centralized space is often simple and peaceful, open to the sky or employing a skylight and it is from this space that the connections to the other areas of the building converge/diverge. It is the heart of the house, building or temple, site, or city (Nashik, India). Life moves into and through this central space, creating and echoing the rythym of life itself.

The benefits claimed by Sthapatya Veda bear some similarities to those sought through the practice of the Chinese geomancy known as Feng Shui. They include peacefulness and clarity of thought. Reduction of stress, harmonious relationships, good fortune, and respect for nature.

Examples of homes designed with "proper vatsu" or wholistic structure:

- Homes in Boone, North Carolina. (Lotus Brahmastan)
- Homes in Fairfield, Iowa. (Hauptman Brahmastan)

Interview with Anthony Lawlor, AIA, architect partner in the Lawlor/Weller Design Group and author of Temple in the House: Finding the Sacred in Everyday Architecture and A Home for the Soul : A Guide for Dwelling With Spirit and Imagination .
- posted by JIMWICh on 5/1/2001 12:09:38 AM

b a c k   t o   t h e
J I M W I C h
a r c h i v e s