Smart Design in New York City came up with this new concept for surgery gowns - the company used breathable material. Photo source: Smart Design
As a kid, I remember watching television shows in which a surgeon would stand over a patient in the operating room and, well, seem just a tad nervous.
I don’t know if it was a nod to reality – the pressure of performing an operation – or just a made-for-television dramatic moment. But there would be another person next to the surgeon, ready to dab any perspiration when needed.
Years ago, a friend and I were traveling through China and stopped in Xining in the highlands of Qinghai province.
My friend had just taken a long, bumpy ride in a vintage-era Jiefang truck from the mountainous areas of neighboring Sichuan province. It was a brutally-cold winter.
The driver had loaded the truck’s open cargo area with dead yaks – their skins were headed to market. I never asked whether this was permissible. The goal, especially for my friend, was to stay warm.
And, as my friend recalled, a ride in a vehicle out of the mountains was so coveted that people sat on top of the dead yaks for a ride to Xining.Â
After we met up, my friend and I went to a market when a Tibetan trader looked at my REI Novara waterproof jacket – it was the type that bicyclists wore, red and similar to this one - felt the material and realized its strength.
Through a translator, he asked whether I wanted to swap – my waterproof REI jacket for his long, fur-lined coat.
I respectfully declined. As I recall, his jacket had yak blood on it – and I probably didn’t want to tackle that at that moment. But at least, he suggested a trade of one jacket for another.
That wasn’t really the case when I received an email on Tuesday from a U.S.-based food supply company to write a blog post about its Web site and its section devoted to supplies for an Asian restaurant.
I’ve driven by the glass boxy building that houses PATH – and I believe condos – at 2201 Westlake Ave. a few times in the evenings in recent weeks.
So, I thought I’d see how my basic digital camera would do in capturing the light and dark. Yes, I’m talking about Westlake in Seattle.
I know some people aren’t huge fans of glass boxy buildings. But I like them as part of a city’s landscape – especially in the Pacific Northwest, where natural light is always welcome.
Interestingly enough, I wrote about this building development years ago. Back then, as I recall, an automobile dealer used the plot of land - Land Rover, if my memory serves me correct.
Of course, before that and years ago, it was just a plot of land near Denny Park, Seattle’s first, which opened in 1884.
This YouTube video clip made by Tufts University applicant Michael Klinker was, well, just too good to pass up. Really.
The New York Times article, which talks about Klinker’s creation and college applicants using YouTube to gain admission to Tufts, is making the online rounds – for good reason.
I mean, a blue elephant – who has swirling helicopter blades – soaring through the air, doing a flip and hovering here and there?
I’ll get to adding longer posts soon. But I just wanted to note some colors and shapes that I’ve always enjoyed seeing in Seattle.
I’ve always liked how the red and blue match and even if the afternoon sunlight washed out the blue numbers against the red wall.
And there’s the curve to the building as well as the gray pole’s height, the green street sign cutting across and white-and-blue sign in the background.
I agree with many of the Vimeo commenters about artist Rob Carter’s fabulous stop-motion video, Metropolis, which looks at Charlotte, North Carolina - it’s fantastic.
I especially agree with one of the commenters, who noted that it has a very Monty Pythonesque quality to it – which is a compliment, indeed.
His work chronicles the city, which he said is growing fast with various skyscrapers and stadiums.
This Chinese lion dance team performs during the Lunar New Year celebration in Seattle's Chinatown in 1921. The group also helped raise money for famine relief in China. Photo source: PEMCO Webster & Stevens Collection (courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry and spotted in an outdoor, public display by The Wing Luke Asian Museum)
As you’ve noticed, I’ve been on a run with Chinese dragons and lions lately – what with the Year of the Tiger that started Sunday.
I know it’s a day after the Lunar New Year began – and people still are celebrating. I thought I’d continue with one more post about lion heads used during Lunar New Year festivities.
Why?
Well, to quote singer (and pop philosopher) Kenny Rogers: “You’ve got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them.”
I’m holding on to this idea for just a bit longer.
I’m also doing this because I recall a person telling me years ago that the past is prologue.
Sir Richard Branson's new submersible, dubbed the Necker Nymph, received widespread media attention. The sleek watercraft is made by Hawkes Ocean Technologies. Image source: Hawkes Ocean Technologies
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I know it’s easy to call for innovation to drive economic growth at any point in history.
And the context of the times can always be sticky. If the United States was flush with venture capital or excess dollars in 2010, it would make the answers and next steps so much easier.
Of course, we are all familiar with the economic times.
The Economist, the august, market-oriented publication, recently reminded readers in the United States of words that always merit attention: Jobless recovery.
That said, innovation is continuing in this country – albeit not at the pace that many would like to see – as evidenced by Sir Richard Branson’s new, sleek submersible watercraft, the Necker Nymph.
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