Trapped in an elevator for 41 hours

Back in October 1999, a man named Nicholas White was trapped in a NYC building elevator for 41 hours. Think about it, almost 2 days you are stuck in isolation without water, food, or worse...a bathroom break.

This article in the The New Yorker talks about his experience and other elevator stories.

Here is the actual video of his ordeal:


And of course, someone made a parody of what happened. Ever wondered what it would be like you were stuck for those 41 hours...with diarrhea?


My abdomen really hurts now from laughing so hard. Bravo to the guys who filmed this.

Spring time in New York

Ah, nothing like going to NYC during spring. Last time I visited NYC, was probably 3 years ago. It's interesting, I was living in Queens around this time, a decade ago. I've always loved New York and it's always a new adventure going back. Times Square seems brighter every time, I discovered 'Rat Rock' in Central Park, I finally saw the WTC site and the Merrill Lynch bull. It was so nice walking around the city late at night.

It was a great trip to refresh the senses and I had a great time showing my friends around, as they had never walked around the city before. I'm surprised I never made the trip before, as I've been living so close for the past 2 years.







more

420

Have you ever wondered how 420 became the significant code number for smoking marijuana, pot, weed, mary jane, bud, herb, cannabis, grass, a joint, a doobie, etc?

Being that today is April 20th, or 4/20, I guess pot smokers worldwide can enjoy this day to celebrate that special plant.

Anywho, there is a sexy blonde bombshell on YouTube that has been the craze lately. She is simply known as Marina, a philologist from Russia, who posts YouTube videos about the origins of words.

Can you guess the origin of 420?



...and the answer



And there you have it. That is where 420 came from. Now go tell all your hippie and pot smoking friends.

If you have ever wondered about the origin of a word, send a request to Marina, or watch more videos at her YouTube page or go check her out at hotforwords.com.

Modern Architecture

Prada building, Tokyo

I dunno why, but lately I've been in love with modern architecture. Maybe it's because I'm trying to move out of the townhouse I've been at for 2 years and every house I've been shopping for looks so plain and dull. At my age and my limited income, I couldn't afford a badass modern designed house. Instead, for now, I'll have to settle on some suburbial home that you can't tell apart from one street to the next.

I've noticed, I am becoming more and more fascinated by art. Although I don't have the patience for, or the talent, for architecture, I still appreciate how beautiful designs and modern houses/buildings can be. My good friend is studying landscape architecture and I crap myself when I see the workload he has to deal with. It truly is dedication and devotion to perfect architecture.

Anywho, during Christmas, I spent some time with my sister's friends. I hung out a lot with her roommate's boyfriend, Dave. Dave works at an architecture firm in Boston and I was really intrigued when I saw this HUGE book sitting on his shelf. It was titled, "The Phaidon Atlas", and it was truly amazing with the designs of the modern buildings and houses contained within this atlas. I didn't care what anyone thought when my sister & I brought this behemoth of a book into a Montreal coffee shop. We enjoyed looking at the vast concepts and ideas the artists had. Looking at the layouts, the floor plans, the locations, etc. It is an awe-inspiring book. Very pricey, but well worth it.

Tetsuka House, Tokyo

Which brings me to last night...I decided to get out of the house and head to Inner Harbor to check out Barnes & Noble. The downtown Baltimore store probably has the greatest selection of books of any other B&N store in the area. I browsed for awhile looking for racing books when I came upon another architecture book that struck my eye. A book entitled, "Tokyo Architecture & Design". This was another stunning book of designs and modern architecture. The houses these architects setup in the vast, urban landscape and also the buildings they made for corporations and businesses reflected upon the true talent of each of these design firms and their respective architects. I sat at that aisle forever reading the book and looking at the fantastic designs.

Although I don't have the talent or dedication for architecture, I hope I live comfortably and make enough, one day, where I can help design and build my own modern house. I want something very contemporary and not your typical 'cookie-cutter' townhouse or single family home. I would really love to have a modern house or building inside the city, as well. Holy hell would it be expensive, but the finished product would be worth it all.












C-1 House, Tokyo

DC Cherry Blossom Festival

For the past two weekends, I had been meaning to head down to DC to check out the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, but was either out of town or was too busy.

I finally found time this weekend, after the peak bloom had already happened. :( I had never seen so many Asians in DC before! It was pretty cool as Pennsylvania ave & 12th St were blocked off so all the vendors could have their stuff setup. Reminded me of some of the festivals in Manhattan.

I found a few good trees, but I really wanted to capture the vast, pink outline around the tidal basin as seen here:
check out other amazing photos here.

Also, here are some of my lackluster pics I took on Saturday. Ugh, I desperately need a digital SLR...

more from my album here.

String spin toy

3D spin toy. wow this thing is neat:

http://www.zefrank.com/string_spin/spin_1.html

Teens shot in my neighborhood

Uh oh, police have some explaining to do...

Monday morning, I was flying out of Phoenix around 6:35am after 4 long days for Volkswagen driver testing. I landed in Newark, NJ and had my layover delayed even further. It was so depressing to see the NYC skyline from the windows and not being able to go into the city. :( Oh well, I'll be there in a few weeks.

Anywho, I landed in Baltimore (BWI) around an hour later than expected of 5:15pm. I call my roommate and find out that he doesn't know if he can leave the neighborhood as some people got shot and police have the whole area blocked! Oh jeez, what the hell happened there?

He finally managed to get a detective to let him out of the crime scene to come pick me up. We saw the news report on the 11 o'clock news and damn was it a shocker. Our neighborhood has been, for the most part, very safe with many families living in the area. Today's drama was very unusual. I had no idea there was drug activity and narcotics officers scoping out the area.

"Accidental discharge" is never good press for the police. I'm sure the usual procedure of putting the officer on administrative leave will happen until the investigation is complete. I wouldn't be surprised to see a lawsuit(s) from the teens' families...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/howard/bal-howard0407,0,3205583.story

I made it

After 4 days of grueling testing in the desert that is Phoenix, I made it to the final 30. I can now say I am an official factory driver for the largest automaker in Europe! I will now be racing for Volkswagen this year in the Jetta TDI Cup.

Wish me luck this season! All races will be televised on SpeedTV.





http://media.vw.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10307