16 girls and Bike acrobatics

16 Chinese gymnasts put on a show with some bicycles. Most impressive.

I Wish I Could Slap Danica Patrick

I'm watching the US Army All-American Bowl on NBC. Well...not really watching it, I've got it on with the sound down, while I wait for the real football which is to start in an hour... and I see a GoDaddy commercial which features Danica Patrick speeding in a car. She is pulled over by a police officer, who is a woman, who is apparently sexually attracted to Danica and pulls off her uniform shirt as if she's stripping to reveal a GoDaddy sports bra underneath.

I'd like to slap Danica, and that other actress, and whatever male chauvanist pig wrote that commercial.

Unfortunately, GoDaddy actually is the company I use to register my domain names, because it's very easy to do there... so I'm going to be writing them a letter of complaint directly, as well, for this demeaning commercial. And I'm going to be investigating other companies to move my business to.

But Patrick really should be ashamed of herself. Women athletes have enough trouble being taken seriously, without adding a hint of lesbianism and lasaciviousness into the mix. Not that there's anything wrong with being a lesbian, but there's a tasteful display of two women -- or two men -- being attracted to each other, and then there's the lascivious and demeaning - to both women and police officers - display that this commercial propogates --- one shown in a time frame where the vast majority of the audience is probably straight, young male teens who have just had it confirmed for them yet again that the only reason that women are on this earth is to provide eye candy for them, and to have it reinforced for any female watchers that yes... that's the way to attract a man!

News of the Weird: Aviation Style

Just picked up a copy of Airliners Magazine. They have an "unusual and interesting news items" section called Tail Pieces.

From that, I gleaned the follwing info.

There's a site called http://www.laviators.com/ where people actually go to post photos of themselves that they've taken in the lavatories of commercial airplanes. Now this is not the silliest thing I've ever seen, that would have to go to .... I can't even remember now, that Walmart website where people post photos of individuals who need to be seriously coached on their dress sense ... but it's up there. I mean, I can see a website where people post pictures of their travels with Flat Stanley or the female equivalent, Flat Stacy and Flat Jessica. But pictures of oneself sitting on a toilet?

Then there's furniture designers who make furniture out of used airplane parts. Check the out at http://www.motoart.com

The Lady and the Tiger, strip 2

The Lady and the Tiger ocmic strip is uploaded every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Strip 2 is now uploaded and can be viewed at:

http://volcanoseven.com/YouFlyGirl/TheLadyandTheTiger/

New comic strip: The Lady and the Tiger

Here's the link to the full-size version of the strip:
The Lady and the Tiger


Winged Victory: Women in Aviation is proud to present a new thrice-weekly comic strip (new strips uploaded every Monday, Wednesday and Friday), The Lady and the Tiger.

Its audience is the general public, the purpose is to provide a little education on general aviation while at the same time telling good stories. It features a young woman named Shannon Scott, who flies around the country in a Tiger Moth, having adventures. (Real world adventures, rather than Lara Croft, Tomb Raider adventures!)

Again, here's the link to the full-size version of the strip:
The Lady and the Tiger

This strip is also available for syndication, if any webmaster would like to feature it on their own website, or in an email or print newsletter. Fees at this startup juncture are relatively modest, so get in on it now! Contact me for details, including viewing dozens of already completed strips so you can get a complete taste of The Lady and the Tiger.

Wedell-Williams Air Service

The book, Wedell-Williams Air Service, by Robert S. Hirsch and Barbara H. Schultz has just arrived in the mail. Another book with no index. Argh.

It tells the story of Harry P. Williams and James R. Wedell, two aviation pioneers during the 1930s who built racing planes. Mary "Mae" Haizlip and her husband, Johnny Haizlip, flew these planes, among other pilots.

The Louisiana State Museum has an extensive Wedell-Williams Collection.

Wedell-Williams 44

Wedell-Williams 92 (the plane Mae Haizlip flew)

Douglas Mawson's Antarctic plane believed found

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100102/sc_nm/us_antarctica_plane

An Antarctic expedition has found what it believes to be remains of the first aeroplane brought to the frozen continent, on an icy shore near where it was abandoned almost a century ago.

Australia has searched for many years for the old single-propeller Vickers plane at Cape Denison, where the nation's most famous polar explorer, Douglas Mawson, abandoned it after it proved to be a failure during his 1911-14 expedition.

"Luck has been on our side and it's been a great episode in the history of Antarctic aviation," said Dr Tony Stewart, leader of the current expedition, after the chance discovery on New Year's day.

Read complete article at link above.