Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:02:26 GMT

Milestone's Killer of Sheep

Killer of Sheep "is a genuinely great film, and now it has reached DVD as only one component of a superb two-disc set from Milestone Film and Video," writes Dave Kehr in the New York Times. The set includes My Brother''s Wedding and four short films by Charles Burnett. "If it were a short story by Faulkner, The Horse would have become an anthology piece decades ago."

"On the surface merely a mood piece about the enervating, dead-end existence of being black in 1970s America, Killer of Sheep attains an inexplicable elemental power, an almost primal thrust and mystery that suggests, at least to the willing viewer, millennia of godless desperation, human embattlement and food-chain horror," writes Michael Atkinson at IFC News. "It''s a ghost movie, returned to haunt us."

Updated through 11/14. Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

November 13, 2007, 9:45 PM CT

Yellowstone Rising

The Yellowstone "supervolcano" rose at a record rate since mid-2004, likely because a Los Angeles-sized, pancake-shaped blob of molten rock was boiled up 6 miles beneath the slumbering giant, researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) report in the November 9 issue of the journal Science.

"There is no evidence of an imminent volcanic eruption or hydrothermal explosion, that's the bottom line," says seismologist Robert Smith, lead author of the study and a geophysicist at the University of Utah. "A lot of calderas [giant volcanic craters] worldwide go up and down over decades without erupting".

The upward movement of the Yellowstone caldera floor--nearly 3 inches (7 centimeters) per year for the past three years--is more than three times greater than ever observed since such measurements began in 1923, say Smith, geophysics postdoctoral associate Wu-Lung Chang and his colleagues.

"Our best evidence is that the crustal magma chamber is filling with molten rock," Smith says. "But we have no idea how long this process goes on before there either is an eruption or the inflow of molten rock stops and the caldera deflates again."

The magma chamber beneath Yellowstone National Park is a not a chamber of molten rock, as per Leonard Johnson, program director in NSF's division of earth sciences, but a sponge-like body with molten rock between areas of hot, solid rock......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:11:00 GMT

Saturday Matinee

I’m trying something a bit different for today’s matinee. I’ve started uploading my videos (so far, just one) to the Yahoo Video site. I’m hoping that this will allow some of you that couldn’t get to the YouTube site.

There’s still a lot of data lost on this video. Sorry about some of the fuzzy areas. (It doesn’t look that way in real life!)

You may notice that the panning speeds up a little at the end. There was something crawling on my neck at the time, so I hurried up to finish so I could swat at whatever it was.

Missouri calendar:

• The Missouri Natural Events Calendar is blank for today.

Posted by: Roundrockjournal      Read more     Source

November 1, 2007, 9:54 PM CT

Vacation photos create 3D models of world landmarks

More than 10 million members of the photo-sharing Web site Flickr snap pictures of their surroundings and then post those photos on the Internet. One group at the University of Washington is doing the reverse--downloading thousands of photos from Flickr and using them to recreate the original scenes.

A presentation in October at the International Conference on Computer Vision showed how photos from online sites such as Flickr can be used to create a virtual 3D model of landmarks, including Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Statue of Liberty in New York City.

"The big breakthrough here is being able to compute very accurate 3D models from people's vacation photos," said co-author Steve Seitz, a UW associate professor of computer science and engineering. "The long-term vision is to be able to reconstruct the detailed geometry of all the structures on the surface of the Earth. A number of people are working toward that goal, but by using online collections this work brings in a whole new source of imagery and level of detail."

Online photo-sharing Web sites such as Flickr and Google are popular because they offer a free, easy way to share photos. Flickr now holds more than 1 billion photos; a search for "Notre Dame Paris" finds more than 80,000 files. The study authors, experts in computer vision, believe this is the world's most diverse, and largely untapped, source of digital imagery......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 01:42:22 GMT

The journey from farm to juice bottle

With approximately 15,000 acres of cranberry bogs, Massachusetts is the second largest cranberry-producing state. (Wisconsin is the first.) I recently spent an afternoon driving around southeastern Mass. looking at cranberry bogs and learning about cranberry farming.

Cranberries typically grow in wetland areas, thriving on the sandy, acidic soils and high-organic matter that are typically found in such ecosystems. They exist in harsh conditions such as those in bogs and other wetlands because they can withstand harsh winds and ice, and they are immune to many bacteria and diseases common in overly wet areas.

The cranberry is one of only three native American crops that are commercially produced. (The other two are Concord grape & blueberry). Indians first used cranberries as a food source, for dye, and for its healing properties. It wasn’t long before European settlers caught on to the benefits of cranberries, and they were first successfully cultivated in the early 1800s.

(To learn more about the natural history of cranberries, read my first cranberry entry.)

The first commercial cranberry beds were constructed in wetlands, but now they are usually built in areas with a shallow water table. An unflooded cranberry bed looks like a low field surrounded on all sides by a dirt berm. The topsoil is scraped off and used to build the berm, which serves as a dike. The topsoil is replaced with 4-8 inches of clean sand, which is shaped to have a slight hill in the center to promote drainage. The beds are installed with irrigation equipment and planted with cuttings from established plants.

A lot of people think that cranberry beds are constantly underwater but that isn’t so. Beds are irrigated regularly, but are only flooded twice — in the fall to facilitate easier harvest, and in the winter to protect them from freezing. Though it might sound counterintuitive, ice actually helps protect the plants. Sand is spread on the top of frozen bogs to protect them from frost damage and for pest control; when the ice melts, the sand settles to the bottom of the bog and helps replenish the sandy bottom.

Late September and October are peak cranberry harvesting months. When the berries are ripe, the beds are flooded and mechanical harvesters remove the berries from the plants. The ripe berries float in the water and are raked into a corner of the bed, where they are mechanically pumped from the bed. Because they’re harvested in water, helicopters are often used to transport the crop to a separate area for sorting.

I’m not through with cranberries. Stay tuned, a post on the environmental aspects of cranberry production is coming up. Posted by: Caroline Brown      Read more     Source

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 03:28:25 GMT

Autumn in New England

I know I’m supposed to do a post on cranberry farming next…it’s coming. I’ve been traveling for the last week and am catching up with work in addition to writing the cranberry post. In the meantime, here are a few pics from some of my local travels.

Woonasquatucket River, near Johnston RI — Oct. 13, 2007



Woonasquatucket River, near Johnston RI — Oct. 13, 2007

Hiller Farm, Rochester, Mass. — Oct. 14, 2007 Posted by: Caroline Brown      Read more     Source

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 03:45:55 GMT

Attractive People? Not In Philadelphia!

Philadelphia is home to the least attractive people in the United States, according to the 'America's Favorite Cities' survey by Travel & Leisure magazine and CNN Headline News.

Some excerpts from the survey:

Most attractive: Miami. Least attractive: Philadelphia
Most fun: New orleans. Least fun: Washington
Most intelligent: Seattle. Least intelligent: Los Angeles
Most friendly: Charleston. Least friendly: Los Angeles
Most stylish: New York. Least stylish: San Antonio
Most worldly: Washington. Least worldly: Dallas/Fort Worth
Most athletic/active: Denver. Least athletic/active: New Orleans

America's Favorite Cities Survey. Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

October 23, 2007, 10:10 PM CT

See Brooklyn's Biggest Baby

The New York Aquarium is proud to announce the birth of a little giant. On June 12, 2007, Kulusiq, AKA "Kulu," a 13-year-old female Pacific walrus, delivered her first calf. This rare event marks the first birth of a walrus at the Aquarium-and in the history of New York City.

Once Aquarium staff confirmed that Kulu was pregnant last winter, preparations began for the birth. The keepers acclimated the expecting mother to an off-exhibit site that would serve as the birthing area. Cameras were installed to capture the first-ever photos and videos of this rare event. They would also allow the mother and calf to be monitored around the clock.

Though Aquarium and veterinary staff were ready to intervene should the new mother or her baby require assistance, the delivery proceeded smoothly. At 4:17 p.m. on June 12, Kulu gave birth to a hefty boy of approximately 115 pounds and measuring 44 inches long. Their connection was instantaneous, and Kulu took on her new maternal duties with confidence.

The growing boy nurses frequently and is gaining one to three pounds per day. As of late September, he tips the scales at 268 pounds. Already a good swimmer, he is busy exploring his Sea Cliffs habitat and playing with his mom, who is often by his side. Regular weigh-ins on a specially designed scale help the staff track his development......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:26:50 GMT

Earlier Opening of the LeMay Museum

The fabulous architectural plan you are looking at is the future Pavilion and Show Field of "The LeMay - America's Car Museum®," which, when finished, will be the largest and most comprehensive automobile museum in the world. It will include a collector car center; a show field suitable for major concours; an education center; retail and entertainment facilities; and private storage opportunities for individual collectors. The original LeMay Collection contained 3,000 automobiles, motorcycles, trucks and other vehicles, plus more than 30,000 pieces of related 20th century Americana, all assembled by Harold LeMay and his wife, who stashed it in and around buildings on his Tacoma property. Although never operated as a museum, Mr. LeMay kindly opened his home one weekend each year for the benefit of interested visitors. It was then recognized in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest privately-held car collection.

When Harold LeMay died a group of enthusiasts set a goal of $143 million to assure that the collection would be displayed in a spectacular facility displaying up to 1000 cars and associated memorabilia. The city of Tacoma, recognising the Museum's tourist and education potential, donated land in an ideal location next to the Tacoma Dome and Interstate 5. City council has now agreed to a plan whereby the Museum campus can be built in stages, thus allowing it to open nearly a year ahead of the original schedule while saving several million dollars in construction costs. The Show Field will be available for major events and have the ability to remain open while the second stage is being built. Construction is slated to begin in April 2008. To date more than $49 million has been committed, including the land, so fund-raising continues to be a major activity. You can learn more about the Museum at its Web site and become a member for as little as $50.00. Posted by: Philip Powell      Read more     Source

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:20:42 GMT

The Louis Vuitton Mahina XXL Handbag

"Name is inspired by the crescents and phases of the moon; in Polynesian culture, Mahina is a lunar deity."

The bag comes dressed in a meticulous and precise perforated flower and LV monogram pattern fabric with contrast topstitching and double rolled leather handle straps that are long enough to carry over the shoulder or on your forearm. This bag also features a hook closure secured by a flap and clasp with the Louis Vuitton signature, an internal zippered pocket and a D-ring for attaching a pouch or key holder (which you will need if you go with the xxl), and side buckles for adjusting the size and bottom studs for protection. Measurements of the xxl Mahina Handbag are 32.3″ x 16.5″ x 11.4″


Price: $3,750 Posted by: Jennifer      Read more     Source