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114 Miles To Go
When are you expecting to arrive at the finish line?
“Right now to be honest I have absolutely no idea sometime during tonight. We had 18 knots of breeze an hour ago, weve now got an average of eleven knots, there are some clouds to windward, weve got the tide to contend with and the breeze is going aft so there are about four different things that could come into play which could change the fact of me crossing the line, some time from midnight to sunrise. I have no idea, it really is a mystery right now I just want to get there as fast as possible.
“Right now Im so tired but I just want to get across the line. Its been a massive project so far, theres been a lot of energy gone in from a lot of people. I feel this is the last opportunity to tie the knot I want to get it right, I want to do it as swiftly and as sweetly as possible.
“But Im very tired I had less than I hour sleep yesterday night, Ive been up all day today and Im going to be up all night tonight, and Im just trying to keep things together until we cross that line Im absolutely exhausted.
“The thing Im looking forward to right now is being able to relax and not worry about the boat speed, the wind speed, whats going to happen with the weather just to be able to not worry about it because for two months its been the only thing circulating around my brain. When that happens and my brain actually allows itself to relax then maybe Ill be able to take in whats going on around me and to see all the team and my family and everything but right now I just need to switch my brain off and disengage because its been a long time pushing very hard.
“The last few days are always very hard of any race or record attempt and this is absolutely no exception. I had a very difficult night last night with exceptional changeable breeze, completely unforecasted. We didnt expect 100 degree wind shifts like I had last night so right now Im just concentrating on getting to the line as fast as possible. And the breeze does not appear to be helping us out on that front.
“Right now Ive got the radar alarm going off, theres a ship in the area, Im going to be dealing with ships from now until the finish which just leaves the traffic separation scheme so thats probably another 12-18 hours of getting round ships
“Weve got a breeze which is fairly changeable, shifting in direction, Im trying to manoeuvre the boat so I dont have to use a genikker which I dont particularly want to do in the shipping lanes. Theres a plane flying over me now, shes done several fly pasts, Im not sure whose in it, now one has tried to call me on the radio, and all I know is its going to be one very, very long night.”
Video link on this page.
The Copyrighting of Public Space
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Following up on my post discussing the uselessness of Frank Gehry’s “BP Bridge” at Chicago’s new Millennium Park, a story in today’s printed version of the Chicago Reader speaks to some other problems with the park.
This time the issues are not so much with the design, but with its use. In keeping with the contemporary trends of privatizing public space, Millennium Park is a copyrighted public space.
The Reader recounts the experience of photojournalist Warren Wimmer’s attempts to photograph Anish Kapoor’s sculpture, Cloud Gate (more commonly known as “the Bean”). When Wimmer set up his tripod and camera to shoot the sculpture, security guards stopped him, demanding that they show him a permit. Wimmer protested, replying that it’s absurd that one needs to pay for a permit to photograph public art in a city-owned park.
Ben Joravsky, the author of the Reader article, attempted to contact park officials for an explanation and received a response from Karen Ryan, press director for the park’s project director:
“The copyrights for the enhancements in Millennium Park are owned by the artist who created them. As such, anyone reproducing the works, especially for commercial purposes, needs the permission of that artist.”
Hence, Millennium Park–a nascent destination for countless citizens and tourists that was built with $270 million in city funds–is slowly emerging as Chicago’s most privatized public space. Photographers beware!
Pompejis Bordell: Wo Liebe so billig war wie Brot
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In Pompeji steht das einzige zweifelsfrei identifizierbare Bordell der Antike. Das Haus, speziell fr seinen Zweck gebaut, beweist: Die Prostitution war eine Normalitt des rmischen Alltags, eine Dienstleistung, die fr Kleinstbetrge wie am Flieband verkauft wurde.
“Lustgewinn” berschrieb die “Sddeutsche Zeitung” im vergangenen Oktober einen Artikel im Feuilleton, der von einem pompejanischen Bordell handelte. Fr die Ohren der professionellen Fhrer, die Tag fr Tag Touristengruppen durch die Ausgrabungen Pompejis schleusen, eine bittere berschrift – denn sie werden ein Jahr lang auf das Highlight ihrer Tour verzichten mssen. Der Hhepunkt im Bordell entfllt – das sogenannte Lupanar des Africanus ist wegen Restaurierungsarbeiten geschlossen. 400.000 Euro sind dafr veranschlagt.
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Guantanamo Bay
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Martin Mubanga went on holiday to Zambia, but ended up spending 33 months in Guantanamo Bay, some of the time in the feared Camp Echo. Free at last and still protesting his innocence, he tells the full story to David Rose
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The home secretary came under fire yesterday after refusing to investigate claims that MI6 played a crucial role in the “kidnap” of a Briton who spent 33 months at Guantnamo Bay.
Charles Clarke said he was not going to order an investigation into an allegation by Martin Mubanga that he was interrogated by a British intelligence official before he was transported to Guantnamo.
Mr Mubanga’s lawyer, Louise Christian, said she planned to take legal action against the government over the way he was detained, claiming he was effectively kidnapped.
Eiffel Tower
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You need look no further than Mickey Mouse in the US, or Elvis in the UK, to understand how copyright, for better or worst, affects the marketplace. But while Disney resorted to legal means to get more life out Mickey, those that oversee the Eiffel Tower came up with something far more clever.
The Eiffel Tower’s likeness had long since been part of the public domain, when in 2003, it was abruptly repossessed by the city of Paris. That’s the year that the SNTE, the company charged with maintaining the tower, adorned it with a distinctive lighting display, copyrighted the design, and in one feel swoop, reclaimed the nighttime image and likeness of the most popular monument on earth. In short: they changed the actual likeness of the tower, and then copyrighted that.
As a result, it’s no longer legal to publish current photographs of the Eiffel Tower at night without permission.
brandweerbus
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Een brandweerkorps in de regio Alkmaar is in verlegenheid gebracht doordat een groep brandweerlieden vorige week op skivakantie zou zijn geweest met een gloednieuwe brandweerbus.
Burgemeester Van Rossen laat via haar woordvoerder weten dat alle betrokkenen ter verantwoording worden geroepen. De brandweer wil nog niet zeggen om welke kazerne het gaat.
Tokyo court orders popular word processor off market
72nd Day: So Near And Yet So Far: 200 Miles To Go…
SLOW AND SLEEPLESS NIGHT FOR B&Q SKIPPER Ellen MacArthur as she tried to get through the weather transition into the new and more favourable breeze. B&Q only made 100 miles distance towards the finish in the last 24 hours and at times during the night was actually sailing away from the finish – not surprisingly her lead on the record has dropped to 1 day and 8 hours. In comparison, Joyon on his 90ft multihull IDEC, was storming to the finish line clocking up 400+ miles in the same 24-hour period. Things can change quickly when MacArthur’s ‘virtual’ competitor is having the opposite conditions to her – fast and in the right direction! B&Q was pushing eastwards most of yesterday as the northerly gale at the weekend slowly abated. The breeze was forecast to shift into the east and then south-east in the early hours of this morning. But the transition proved to be elusive with massive wind shifts of up to a 100 degrees forcing Ellen to tack the boat through the wind 11 times – one tack taking her towards the finish, the next away. It wasn’t until just before sunrise that Ellen made what she hoped was the final tack to the north, although the permanence of the new wind direction is yet to be confirmed…
…SLEEP? A BIT SHORT OF IT: Ellen attacked the difficult sailing conditions of last night with a viewpoint that it was her last night at sea, and got just 15 minutes in total of sleep. The bad news for her this morning was that it doesn’t look like it will be the last night. Getting some kind of naps will be critical for her today with extra vigilance also being required as she tracks across the Bay of Biscay quite close the route the cargo ships take from Finisterre to Ushant. On a call this morning Ellen admitted that she was really looking forward to seeing her family and friends, but that seeing land again would be a strange concept after so long at sea…..
….JOYON’S 72 DAY, 22 HOUR, 54 MINUTE WORLD RECORD rocked the sailing world when he crossed the finish line at 0654 GMT on 3rd February 2004, taking 21 days off the previous solo record set by 2001 Vende Globe winner, Michael Desjoyeaux on his 60ft monohull PRB. As Ellen said before leaving: “It is the kind of record that deserves to stand for a decade or more…” when she only gave herself a 25 per cent chance of even getting close to his time. Francis Joyon set out on 22 November 2003 on board his 90-foot trimaran to cross the start line off Brest. He subsequently set new solo times to every major landmark along the way – Equator, three Southern Ocean capes and back up to the Equator. IDEC covered 26,938.42 nautical miles at an average speed of 15.38 knots. Joyon chose to do his own weather routing for the trip and quietly and simply got on with the job. If one person can truly empathise with what MacArthur has been through so far it is Joyon – their respect and admiration for each other is mutual…..
(Click the small image on the website for bigger picture)
Respect!
Support the Veterans!
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President Bush’s budget would more than double the co-payment charged to many veterans for prescription drugs and would require some to pay a new fee of $250 a year for the privilege of using government health care, administration officials said Sunday.
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Veterans groups attacked the proposals. Richard B. Fuller, legislative director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, said: “The proposed increase in health spending is not sufficient at a time when the number of patients is increasing and there has been a huge increase in health care costs. It will not cover the need. The enrollment fee is a health care tax, designed to raise revenue and to discourage people from enrolling.”
Mr. Fuller added that the budget would force veterans hospitals and clinics to limit services. “We are already seeing an increase in waiting lists, even for some Iraq veterans,” he said.
In Michigan, for example, thousands of veterans are on waiting lists for medical services, and some reservists returning from Iraq say they have been unable to obtain the care they were promised. A veterans clinic in Pontiac, Mich., put a limit on new enrollment. Cutbacks at a veterans hospital in Altoona, Pa., are forcing some veterans to seek treatment elsewhere.
leatherback sea turtles
The tsunami that ripped away at Thailand’s southwestern coast apparently brought unexpected visitors back to the tourist island of Phuket — endangered leatherback sea turtles, seen 17 August 2004, a report said.(AFP/File/Jimin Lai)
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The Anti-American
The front page of the January edition of a new French satirical newspaper called ‘The Anti-American’, Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 is shown in Paris. Forget about all the trans-Atlantic talk of kiss-and-make-up, the pulse of France can also be measured with the new satirical newspaper. Front page reads : ‘Why does religion make them sex obssesed ?’ and ‘Let’s reply to the Yankee’s press insults’. (AP Photo/Laurent Emmanuel)
Heeee, biertje???
22.06 GMT and only 22 Miles to go!
She’s done it! She crossed the line at 22.30 GMT, beating the previous record of 72 days, 22 hours, 54 mins by 1 day, 9 hours. Go Ellen! Go! A donf!