- Norway is a place where winter is life. Even in summer,
temperatures don’t venture too far north of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so snow, ice
and skis are staples of the culture. In Rjukan, Norway, this wintry way of living goes a
step further. Rjukan is located in the bottom of a valley between steep
mountains in Telemark County, about 90 miles west of Oslo. The town is renowned
for its extreme darkness in winter and that much darkness can be depressing
even for alcohol-loving Norwegians. After suffering through years and years of
this darkness, artist and resident Martin Andersen decided to do something about it.
He picked up on an idea that was first conceived in 1913 to use mirrors to
reflect sunshine during the winter. Although the concept was first thought up a
century ago, the ability to execute it lagged behind – until now. When it
launches on Oct. 31, the system will use computer-driven mirrors to “follow the
sun's movement over the horizon and reflect its rays into Rjukan's market
square." The computer-driven heliostats have been placed at the top of a mountain
wall some 1,300 feet above the town. Dubbed the Solspeil, or sun mirror, it is being
hailed by town officials as a project that will strengthen the identity and
attraction of the town that is the gateway to the Hardangervidda. The Solspeil
itself is 2,200 feet above sea level. The founder of the town, Sam Eyde, first
pitched the idea of a “Solspeil,” or sun mirror, above Rjukan. Eyde recognized
the importance of the sun to resident during the winter and realized the need
to give his workers the opportunities for sunlight in the winter. He was never
able to bring the idea to fruition and rather than pick it up, his successors
built a gondola in 1928 to transport Rjukan’s inhabitants to the winter
sunshine. The gondola, called Krossobanen, remains a functional connection between
the town and the mountains. Behold the power of mirrors……..
- What the eff, Portland? Isn't the Pacific Northwest
supposed to be a friendly, warm place full of flannel-wearing, free-spirited
do-gooders who don’t jaywalk, help their neighbors and care about the people
around them? Then why are Brooklyn rockers San Fermin now trying to figure out how to
keep going on their tour after some creep stole $20,000 worth of their
equipment? The band posted the news to their website earlier this week,
explaining that their entire trailer was stolen. Inside was a collection of equipment
including guitars, drums, saxophones and microphones. Having all of its gear
ripped could pose a problem for a band that, you know, plays music with that
gear, but San Fermin have vowed to continue their tour. Their plan involves
calling on fans to help them replace the equipment by donating to their Paypal
account. "Everything was going so well on the road. It was definitely
speed bumps and the mood was subdued for a while, but now we are raising funds
to purchase new instruments and we are hopeful for the future,” member Ellis
Ludwig-Leone said. “We discovered the trailer missing when we woke up in
Portland on Saturday, but we cobbled together instruments and equipment in
Seattle and played the show. We didn't want anything to stop us. It's been a
challenge but we are hopeful." The trailer heist took place in the Red
Lion Hotel parking lot and after waking (presumably after noon, rock star
style) to find their gear gone, the band begged and borrowed for equipment to
play their next gig in Seattle and are asking people in the Portland area to
keep an eye out for the equipment and the white and orange U-Haul with a license
plate GDX 050……….
- Science is back to its usual tricks, namely researching
weird and largely unhelpful topics that won't do much good for anyone. Today’s
revelation is that men walking by themselves generally walk faster than women,
but those men slowed their pace significantly to match their female partners' speeds when
walking with their wives or girlfriends. All of those in the study were heterosexual
couples and their friends and when lead researcher Cara Wall-Scheffler, a
biologist at Seattle Pacific University, monitored their pace she found that
while the men slowed down, the woman barely sped up at all. "It's really
men who do all the compromising," Scheffler said. She and her colleagues
invited 11 couples, along with some male and female friends of the pairs, to
walk several times around a track solo and in various pairings. They found 36
people willing to participate and when the men walked alone, the guys traveled
at 1.53 meters per second and women at 1.44 meters per second. Those numbers
made sense because men are generally taller and have longer legs, but when the
participants walked with their significant other, the men slowed down
regardless of whether or not they held hands with or were in direct contact
with their special lady. Scheffler’s theory about this change is that men in
roving hunter-gatherer groups not wanting to push women to walk too fast, lest
the females over-exert themselves and harm their fertility. It’s a
caveman-influenced theory that sounds like total bullsh*t, which is probably
why she also tagged it with a psychological component based on the idea that
men will slow down to "get that shoulder bumping, hip-bumping
intimacy" with women they love. This seems to make sense because when men were
paired with female friends in the study, they did not slow down and when they
walked with other guys, they actually sped up. Score one for the inherent
competitive spirit amongst dudes……..
- One of the most worthless court cases in forever will go
on – for now. The city of Detroit
is seeking to prove that its perilous finances qualify for a turnaround in
bankruptcy court. The city’s attorneys promised to l present a “mountain of
evidence” to show the validity of their case before Judge Steven Rhodes. Rhodes
has set aside several days to hear evidence and decide whether the city met
many key steps, including good-faith negotiations with creditors, before taking
drastic action three months ago. If approved, it would be the largest public
filing in U.S. history. One could argue that Rhodes need only walk through
downtown Detroit for five minutes to see the hellscape of abandoned buildings, foreclosed
homes, drug dealers, stray dogs and pothole-riddled streets that the city has
become in order to realize it is indeed bankrupt. Amazingly, there is no
guarantee that the filing will be approved. “There’s nothing left to do here.
There is no revenue solution. … Chapter 9 is more needed here than another
other possible scenario you could think of,” attorney Bruce Bennett said in his
opening remarks, adding that no one can credibly argue that Detroit is solvent.
Witnesses “will present a mountain of evidence showing the insolvency of the
city,” Bennett said. “This is one of those cases where the data speaks very
clearly and persuasively on its own. It needs no gloss.” It may not need gloss,
but Detroit could definitely use a dozen or more layers of gloss right about
now. The outcome of the case will have a heavy influence on how the city
ultimately solves its debt problems and gets back to business. Unions and
pension funds are the ones challenging Detroit on the eligibility question in
spite of the city not paying its debts and being heavily blighted. The crux of
the opposition’s case is that emergency manager Kevyn Orr, appointed by Gov.
Rick Snyder, was not genuinely interested in negotiating when they met with his
team in June and July. In short, they believe Orr had made up his mind well
before that meeting. The trial s is expected to last several days, with
testimony from Orr, Police Chief James Craig and financial consultants. Even
Snyder will get a chance to take the stand Monday and all in all, it should be
a feel-good few days full of tales of financial mismanagement, a collapsing
economy and a city on an unstoppable decline……….
- Not that Oklahoma
City Thunder star Russell Westbrook asked for it, but Chicago Bulls point guard
Derrick Rose has some advice for him as he makes his way back from knee
surgery: Take your time. Rose, who missed close to a year and a half after ACL
surgery, is advocating that Westbrook follow his example as he recovers from a
torn meniscus. "Take his time," Rose said after Wednesday night's win
over the Thunder in an exhibition game. "He's the only one that knows his
body. There's no need to force anything. And attack every day of rehab like
it's your last day. Get everything you [can] get out of it every day." On
one level, Rose is correct. He didn’t feel he was ready to play last year and decided
to sit out, which turned out to be the right move because he has looked great
so far this preseason. However, Westbrook would be wise not to conduct his
rehab process the way Rose did in terms of off-the-court activity. From the
hype videos Rose and his agent/brother Reggie put out teasing a return that
wasn’t coming to the vague answers Rose gave when asked about his return and
the constant pre-game warmups in uniform that created even more drama around
his refusal to play, D-Rose could not have handled the rest of the situation
worse. Even when he was cleared by team doctors, he refused to play. Rose is
confident that like himself, Westbrook can come back and be as dominant as ever.
"For sure," Rose said. "He has that type of will. His frame, his
body, I think [the rehab] is just going to help him become a better
player." He admitted that he hadn't been able to talk with Westbrook in
person, but is confident in his comeback nonetheless. For his part, Westbrook
began participating in some drills with the Thunder earlier this week and is on
the road to a return this season………
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