elijah’s adventure

In the likely case that you’re wondering where you can find Discovery Channel Placemarks, Lava Flows, Coral Reefs, Convict Escape Routes, the Google Earth Blog comes to the rescue!

The Cameratruck is a large scale “pinhole” camera, built inside a cargo truck, touring Spain. The camera uses photographic paper cut from rolls measuring 100cm x 30m and the exposure time is between 5 and 15 seconds.

Galen, a retired scientist, now spends his time traveling the world. He has visited 169 independent countries and 91 dependencies. Everywhere from Curacao to Dubai to the Falkland Islands to Malaysia to Yap. His website boasts a plethora of photographs and captions.

I admire the depth and breadth of his travels, but am unable to wait until retirement. “All you touch and all you see / Is all your life will ever be” -Pink Floyd

Maj. Dean Neeley is in the forward, lower cockpit of the Lockheed U-2ST, a two-place version of the U-2S, a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft that the Air Force calls “Dragon Lady.” His voice on the intercom breaks the silence. “Do you know that you’re the highest person in the world?” He explains that I am in the higher of the two cockpits and that there are no other U-2s airborne right now. “Astronauts don’t count,” he says, “They’re out of this world.”

Barry flying highWe are above 70,000 feet and still climbing slowly as the aircraft becomes lighter. The throttle has been at its mechanical limit since takeoff, and the single General Electric F118-GE-101 turbofan engine sips fuel so slowly at this altitude that consumption is less than when idling on the ground. Although true airspeed is that of a typical jetliner, indicated airspeed registers only in double digits.

I cannot detect the curvature of the Earth, although some U-2 pilots claim that they can. The sky at the horizon is hazy white but transitions to midnight blue at our zenith. It seems that if we were much higher, the sky would become black enough to see stars at noon. The Sierra Nevada, the mountainous spine of California, has lost its glory, a mere corrugation on the Earth. Lake Tahoe looks like a fishing hole, and rivers have become rivulets. Far below, “high flying” jetliners etch contrails over Reno, Nevada, but we are so high above these aircraft that they cannot be seen.

The rest of this tale is at Barry Schiff’s website.

When someone mentions antivirus to you, you’re likely to think McAfee or Norton. They’re the incumbents, and they’re not nearly as effective as the little guy. Let me introduce Kaspersky, an information security software vendor headquartered in Moscow. Their flagship product for home users is Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0, which in my experience is much more effective than what the incumbents provide. Internet Security 6.0 protects you against spam, viruses, spyware, and hackers. Kaspersky boasts an antivirus update interval of one hour, which is far more expedient than the competition. Their software has very little overhead and memory usage, which causes your machine to run like a thoroughbred. The installation process is straightforward and understandable. The interface is intuitive and clean; working with it is a joy. Kaspersky ensures that your computer is clean, fast, and productive. I highly recommend Kaspersky over the competition. Take a look at the Kaspersky website to see their full line of product offerings.

The Trinity test was the first nuclear explosion, set near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Twice a year, tourists are permitted to walk the grounds of the test site. “But what about the radiation?”, you exclaim. According to the Alamogordo Trinity website, “Radiation levels in the fenced, ground zero area are low. On an average the levels are only 10 times greater than the region’s natural background radiation. A one hour visit to the inner fenced area will result in a whole body exposure of one half to one milliroentgen (mrem). To put things in perspective, an adult receives an average of 90 milliroentgens every year from natural and medical sources. For instance, the Department of Energy says we receive between 35 and 50 milliroentgens every year from the sun and from 20 to 35 milliroentgens every year from our food. Living in a brick house adds 50 milliroentgens of exposure every year compared to living in a frame house. Finally, flying coast to coast in a jet airliner gives an exposure of between three and five milliroentgens on each trip.” However, be sure not to collect Trinitite, silica melted by an atomic explosion, as it is mildly radioactive and will cause you to grow a tail. The site is only open two times a year, with the next two dates being October 7th, 2006 and April 7th, 2006.

I awoke this morning with a fever of 101 degrees (38.3 C). The fever dreams were enthralling and amazingly complex. It was if I were passing through a series of mazes and corridors, and people were whispering for me to turn left or right, up or down. Each direction corresponded to a change in body temperature. Upon awakening I felt rather serene, having reached the perfect temperature, not unlike a newborn child taking his first slumber. I climbed down from my cocoon (the loft), and went to the restroom. I remember standing in front of the mirror, holding onto the sink. Then, everything turned purple-blue and I lost my vision. I vaguely recall falling down multiple times. After falling the first time, I instinctually tried to stand, repeatedly. So there I was, helpless on the bathroom floor, and I couldn’t see a thing. I couldn’t move my body with any amount of concrete-effectiveness. I felt quite injured, and assumed the worst: that I had a concussion and an open wound or two that were dripping blood onto the cold tile floor. My nose felt injured and was surely bleeding. I normally hate feeling helpless, but my consciousness was so weak the thought was unable to surface at the time. Eventually my sight returned, albeit as a patchy purple-blue state, and I was barely able to stand and hold onto the sink once more. Feeling drunk, I looked into the mirror and saw no blood, and was relieved. Injuries merely felt worse than they really were. At that time I was sweating drippingly-profusely. I grabbed a towel and crawled to the couch. I sat there for a moment, and gathered my thoughts. The concept of time was completely lost upon me, and I decided that herding cats would be an easier task than gathering thoughts. Ahh, but of course! Orange juice could make anything better, especially my current condition. I always prefer orange juice with lots of pulp, as fresh bits splashing down my throat remind me of real oranges, unlike artificial juice that has been shipped in a carton. I turned on a few fans to cool down, and showered to rinse off the smelly sweat. Fortunately, I was able to remain in an upright position while taking a shower. Hmm, the pro’s and con’s of having a body. I called a car service to take me to the hospital.

After arriving at the Cabrini hospital they gave me two liters of saline solution via IV. A quick check with a tongue depressor showed that I had an infection - likely a form of strep throat. They gave me a cardiogram to check for normal heart operation. I complained that walking was painful - as each step jarred my brain. As a result, I was administered a catscan (a three dimensional xray) to assure there were no brain injuries from the fall. A catscan is quite the intriguing procedure. You lie down on a bed with a headrest, and your head is strapped in and is unable to move. I felt as if I had been admitted to the sanitarium. Certain Pink Floyd lyrics came to mind “The lunatic is on the grass / Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs / got to keep the loonies on the path” The bed then rose and moved into a donut shaped enclosure that has a diameter of about three feet. Flat red lasers were shining into me, not unlike a rock concert. Part of the donut was transparent, and machinery inside was spinning around at a rapid pace. A buzzing noise that occurred every 1.5 revolutions. After all of the tests and diagnoses, I was returned to my cozy bed in the emergency room and was served the hospital’s finest cuisine! String beans, turkey, mushrooms, potatoes, peaches, apple juice, coffee, milk, and celery soup! The meal was so filling I soon fell asleep. The final diagnoses: heat exhaustion and strep. Before moving to NYC, I had never been to an emergency room and I became sick perhaps once every two years!

If you’ve ever had a fever dream, and appreciate erotic fiction, take a look at Fever Dreams.