Snow in the Quad, flags for Iraq, Fusion Man
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Today was the third annual Snow in the Quad rail jam event on the Oregon State University campus. Read an article on last year’s Snow in the Quad in The Daily Barometer. Here’s a YouTube video and some Flickr photos by Blair Cook from last year’s Snow in the Quad. And here are OSU webcam time-lapse videos of the MU Quad: 2006 and 2007. I wander over there every year to check it out. They trucked in snow from Mt. Hood. The snow melted really fast this year, since it suddenly reached 90 degrees today. They were done snowboarding and skiing before 4 p.m. Heat wave!
Another interesting campus activity was the recent display of white and red flags in the Valley Library Quad during the past week, representing soldiers killed since the war/occupation in Iraq began. According to the “Reminders of lives lost in war” article in The Daily Barometer, the flags were to “show the number of Iraqis and Americans that have died since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.” It was a lot of flags; one red flag for each fallen American and every white flag representing five or more Iraqi deaths. See the time-lapse video of the flag setup process on Tuesday, May 6. They took all of the flags down on Wednesday, May 14.
I can’t decide whether I want to go to the Sasquatch Festival at The Gorge next weekend. I’ll already be in Portland on May 22 and 23 for the annual WebVisions conference.
Below are a few entertaining videos and comics to share:
In 2006, Yves Rossy, Switzerland’s “Fusion Man” (or Jet-Man), became the first man in the world to fly with wings and four jet engines strapped to his body. Yesterday, he showcased his talents to the world using the jet-powered wings he designed. Watch the YouTube video and read the story: “Swiss ‘Fusion Man’ Flies Over the Alps With Jet-Propelled Wings.”
(Wait . . . did you say Mr. Fusion?)
I thought of the following stupid Homestar Runner cartoon (actually a Fluffy Puff Marshmallows commercial) from 2002 this week when I tried to explain to a coworker why I was seemingly inexplicably attaching the phrase “for secret eating” to various statements. No, I’m not insane! Watch Meet Marshie.
See a video clip of Sesame Street‘s Swedish Chef on Robot Chicken. Adult Swim is the best. Bork bork bork! Björk?
I found the following webcomic somewhat amusing: The Comic Adventures of Left & Right.