The Architecture Of Speed

Anyone who followed this year's Formula One season, saw the best the sport has had to offer in the last 20 years. There was a championship decided at the last race of the season, behind-the-scenes spy drama, the clashing of driver egos, a couple of wild races in the pouring rain, and the premier season of a dashing young driver from the UK who has decided to move to Switzerland to avoid all the attention he's getting (and pay less taxes).

But what I find myself drawn to in these races is the remarkable architecture displayed at the road courses around the world. Several in Asia are especially striking in their grandstand and concourse designs.
The German architectural firm of Hermann Tilke has designed many of these tracks. This is one in Sepang:


And this one in Shanghai:



There is something surreal about these modern structures rising up out of open spaces, and some of the grandstands are just plain cool.
You can see more photos and designs at the firm's website.

Quote

"Fanaticism is ... overcompensation for doubt." - Robertson Davies

The United States Of (Deleted)

Anybody following the story about the White House editing of CDC director, Julie Gerberding's, Senate report on climate change, here is a link that shows the whole report with what was cut in red.

Best Of CraigsList

Check out this link with the listing, "my coke for your pot".

California And Fire

A couple of months ago the Hollywood Hills burst into flame near the Griffith Observatory. Firefighters successfully knocked down the flames without a lot of damage to homes. Over the last week helicopters have been painting the hillsides with hydroseed to encourage growth and prevent mudslides when the rains finally arrive.
The photo below shows the surreal nature of the hills, and makes the landscape appear like a Christo-like art installation.



Of course right on the heals of this hillside repair come the wildfires that are now devastating much of Southern California. A strange golden hue has settled over the Los Angeles basin, and San Diego is suffering intense damage. This photo below by Genaro Molina of the Los Angeles Times captures the conditions all over the region.



While most of the country cools and the chill of autumn paints the trees gold and amber, Southern California heats up from Santa Ana wind conditions, turns brown, and starts to burn.

Photos

This is a site I've linked to before, but Shorpy is worth visiting regularly. Now, some of their wonderful old photos are linked to actual locations in New York via Google Maps. Check it out here. Above: Big man in tavern 1908.

Sands Casino Implosion

Atlantic City made a spectacle out of the demolition of the Sands Hotel.

More Andy Kaufman

Another inflammatory clip of Andy trying to rile up people from the South so they would pay to see wrestler Jerry Lawler whoop him!

Photos

Not sure how I found this, but here are old photos from the USSR.

Political Fundraising Item

Here's an interesting post over at Think On These Things showing the difference between Hilary and Obama's money. Apparently, Hillary gets her dough from richer donators giving larger sums, while Obama gets a lot of the "common folks 50 bucks at a time" donations. I prefer the small donations from the masses over large donators asking for favors later (You mean $50 doesn't get me an ambassadorship?).

Army Business

Charlie Rose's excellent interview of Blackwater head Erik Prince Monday night stayed mainly on the topic of the civilian death incident in Iraq - but this exchange was a real eye opener.
Since the world seems to be run increasingly by corporations, it's only a matter of time before private business armies are jetting around the world dealing with hot spots for money. This is a job I'd rather see the Marines doing, but the State Department is already farming it out. Prince's ideas in the above link are well intentioned, but, boy, things could get complicated pretty fast. Imagine if employees from a private security firm in China choppered into St. Louis and accidentally shot your uncle...yikes!

Quick History Of Religion

Here's a handy moving graphic over at Maps Of War that shows the history of the world's religions.

Street Art

Street installations by Mark Jenkins.

More Andy Kaufman

Letterman appearance. Ignore the diaper, because Andy has a pretty good voice!

Photos

Photos of toy factory workers in China via maZm.

Cycling With David Byrne

I've come to admire David Byrne's love of cycling through his website. Here is a great link to a POV video he made while using his favorite mode of transportation through New York City. With narration.

Internet Blocking Countries

Here's an interesting map that shows which countries block good 'ol free speechin' internet traffic. Courtesy of Strange Maps.
Yeah, Myanmar, is one of them.

Graphic

This beauty is from a 1948 Solarex sunglasses ad. Courtesy of Plan 59.

That Ain't Right

News item here.

More Andy Kaufman

Many years ago, not long after his death, there was an excellent tribute to Andy Kaufman held at the Long Beach Museum of Art in California. Hosted by Andy's long time friend and fellow comic, Bob Zmuda, the evening included many rare clips of Kaufman's career.
The clip that follows is Andy at his best. As Zmuda tells it, ticket sales for Andy's match with wrestler Jerry Lawler were sluggish - so Andy shot a couple of inflammatory ads in his back yard to anger fans in Tennessee in order to sell more tickets. Here's one of them:

Photos

Michael Wolf created this abstract image by photographing apartment buildings in Hong Kong. More pix on his website here.

Over London

Creative Review has a good link to some London shots taken by photographer Jason Hawkes here.

Accident

When the Lord Mayor leaps over someone dressed as a tomato, well...that's when people get hurt. Full story at BBC.

The War In Your Colon

Here's another great list by Kevin Griffith over at McSweeney's.

Andy Kaufman

I put Andy high on the list of people I wish were still alive. October will be Andy Kaufman tribute month here at cellophane - featuring highlights from his career (and it won't be about Latka on "Taxi"). Here's a local news story that aired about Tony Clifton:

Short Film

carmela walking away
running time: 4 minutes 58 seconds