Posts Tagged ‘nyc’
Monday, September 13th, 2010
This week’s This American Life radio show is called “Right to Remain Silent” – it’s about two sort of wacky guys from New Yawk. The first half of the show concerns what happened after an iPhone owner used FaceBook to jokingly threaten people at the 5th Avenue Apple Store but the second story is the more interesting part. It’s about:
“a police officer who begins recording his supervisors to prove they’re manipulating crime statistics in potentially dangerous ways.”
Adrian Schoolcraft, the NYPD cop featured in the second half of the show, blames “crime control model” COMPSTAT (“short for computer statistics”) for pressuring his supervisors into pressuring him to make arrests and hand out tickets simply for the sake of making arrests and handing out tickets. You know, to get the stats looking good.
Oh, and since he he carried audio recorders around all the time, you get to hear a bunch of NYPD cops talking, and yelling. And here’s a written version of the story, a long one from the Village Voice.
Adrian Schoolcraft, after his split with the NYPD:
Now, here’s the SFPD’s take on COMPSTAT.
Anyway, you can download an mp3 of the show for free over the next couple of days, if you want.
(more…)
Tags: 2010, 81st precinct, audio, comp stat, compstat, department, dept., KALW, kqed, npr, nyc, nypd, officer, podcast, police, radio, Recorder, recording, right to remain silent, SFPD, show, tape, this american life, wbez
Posted in crime | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 16th, 2009
I don’t know, it seems like writer William Langewiesche, currently residing in France, wants to have it both ways with his new book, Fly by Wire: The Geese, the Glide, the Miracle on the Hudson. He wants to rip on Sully, thusly:
“His performance was a work of extraordinary concentration, which the public misread as coolness under fire. Some soldiers will recognize the distinction.”
“Like it or not, [French pilot Bernard Ziegler] reached out across the years and cradled them all the way to the water.”
But then when Langewiesche gets a little blowback, he folds up like a deck chair, talking about how he’s surprised by Sully’s reaction, and how he’s neither pro- nor anti- fly-by-wire, and how he thinks cockpit automation is merely ”a part of the story,” anyway, of Flight 1549. Well, duh, it’s a part of the story.
But that’s Langewiesche’s “Truth About the Miracle on the Hudson” – that’s it, that’s all there is?
Haven’t read Fly by Wire myself. Probably would rather read it more than Sully’s less-techy book (mostly about the his Search for What Really Matters), which I haven’t read either. Oh well.
Obviously, there are pros and cons to Die by Wire. If William Langewiesche is now going around saying that, as he is, then there’s not much of a dispute anymore, we’ll take solace in the certainly that the bruised egos of French Airbus execs (who want Sully to thank Gaia for Airbus every chance he gets) will heal over time.
I don’t know, pretty cheesy (fromagey?) Monsieur William Langewiesche.
Pretty cheesy.
Tags: 1549, 320, a320, a320-214, aa, airbus, airlines, airport, airways, American, B., bay area, bird, book, books, button, california, capt., Captain, charlotte, chesley, Chesley b. Sullenberger, chesley sullenberger, co-pilot, Contra Costa, crew, d. c., danville, deal, ditch, ditch switch, ditching, east bay, f-4, f4, facebook, fans, fighter, flight, fly by wire, france, french, geese, hero, highest duty, hudson, II, iii, inauguration, international, Jeff Skiles, jew, jewish, la guardia, Langewiesche, lga, manhattan, my search for what really matters, N106US, nc, north carolina, ny, nyc, obama, phantom, pilot, reliability, river, safety, safety reliability methods, San Francisco, SFO, sign, signing, strike, sullenberger, sullenburger, sully, terminal, tour, U.S., Washington, William, William Langewiesche, Writer
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Here’s what you do – you check out the old trailer for 50 Cents‘ “gritty” new movie, Before I Self Destruct, or log onto Yahoo! Movies to see the new trailer. And if you like that, then sign up for free tickets. San Francisco’s showing will be at the Metreon in the SoMA on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 8:30 PM sharp.
Don’t expect the tunes from the movie to have anything to do with the album with the same name, but 50 said he sweated the details making sure the soundtrack would be right. So, sign up now before all the ticks are gone.
See you there.
50 Cent Announces a Ten City Screening Tour of His Directorial Debut Film: BEFORE I SELF DESTRUCT
Fans can download their tickets* exclusively through MovieTickets.com Yahoo! Movies premiers a new BEFORE I SELF DESTRUCT Trailer
This November 50 Cent will be hitting the road to screen his latest film, BEFORE I SELF DESTRUCT. Beginning on Tuesday Oct. 27th, fans can log on to www.movietickets.com/50 to download their tickets* to these exclusive screenings.
Date Market
2-Nov Boston
3-Nov Philadelphia
4-Nov DC
5-Nov NYC
7-Nov Atlanta
9-Nov Chicago
10-Nov San Francisco
11-Nov Los Angeles
12-Nov Houston
13-Nov Dallas
Spookyvision:
About the Film, after the jump
(more…)
Tags: $10, 2009, 4th, 50 cent, Atlanta, before, BEFORE I SELF DESTRUCT, boston, chicago, City, d. c., Dallas, director, film, free, hip hop, Houston, i., los angeles, Metreon, mission, movie, new york, November, nyc, Philadelphia, rapper, San Francisco, SELF DESTRUCT, soma, tickets
Posted in movies | Comments Off
Monday, October 19th, 2009
East Bay local Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is back flying for U.S. Airways, but he’s still had time to write a book and go on tour. Sully will be at SFO tomorrow, in case you want to drop by at 11:00 AM. Otherwise, it costs $90k to arrange an appearance these days, so this is a good deal.
After all, Sully is Your Homeboy, right?
The SFO Hudson Bookseller is located pre-security (near the BART Station) in the Main Hall of the International Terminal on the “G” Area side.
October 20, 2009 – Tuesday
When: October 20, 2009 – Tuesday 11 a.m.
Where: Hudson Books, International Terminal (near Bart) San Francisco
What: Sully Sullenberger will be signing his new book “Highest Duty My Search for What Really Matters”
Tags: (BART), 1540, 320, a320, a320-214, aa, airbus, airlines, airport, airways, American, B., bay area, bird, book, books, button, california, capt., Captain, charlotte, chesley, Chesley b. Sullenberger, chesley sullenberger, co-pilot, Contra Costa, crew, d. c., danville, deal, ditch, ditch switch, ditching, east bay, f-4, f4, facebook, fans, fighter, flight, geese, hero, highest duty, hudson, II, iii, inauguration, international, Jeff Skiles, jew, jewish, la guardia, lga, manhattan, my search for what really matters, N106US, nc, north carolina, ny, nyc, obama, phantom, pilot, reliability, river, safety, safety reliability methods, San Francisco, SFO, sign, signing, strike, sullenberger, sullenburger, sully, terminal, tour, U.S., Washington
Posted in advertising, books | Comments Off
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
See those letters in solid-colored circles at the bottom of the Kaiser Permanente “thrive” bus stop ad near Geary and Gough? That just might earn Kaiser a cease and desist letter from Lester G. Freundlich, Senior Associate Counsel, Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Just check out beloved local website Muni Diaries here and here to learn of the metaphorical long-distance beat-down 40WithEgg recently received all the way from the Empire State.
The problem comes from using circled capital letters while referencing a transit theme.
Well let’s see dare ah, you’se got an “A,” in dare - what’s youse guys doin’ wit our freaking “A”? Click to expand:
Of course, you’d think that Kaiser would have looked at this issue already, but you never know.
These days, Joe Moore appears to be off of the thin ice for now, but who knows what the future will bring. Will he get sued by MUNI?
Possibly. Oh well.
Give those New Yawkers Hell, Joe. And Kaiser, you too.
Let’s close with a sample of a scary cease and desist letter. Cheers.
Dear Mr. Smith:
Your above store was selling through website www.Cafeshops.com a variety of T-shirts based upon Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s trademarks for various routes of the New York City subway system.
The symbols for the routes of the New York City subway system are MTA intellectual property which may not be used on products without a license from MTA. In the absence of a license for these products, you must immediately cease to sell the unlicensed products.
On the basis of the above, at MTA’s demand, www.cafeshops.com has removed your shop from its site.
This is to demand that, if you are manufacturing or selling these products through any other channel, you must cease and desist immediately.
Please respond immediately in writing to me at the address indicated below or by email at the address indicated below, by completing the applicable statements on page 2 and returning this letter to me.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Lester G. Freundlich
Senior Associate Counsel
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Tags: 40 with egg, 40withegg, bus, capital, cease, Circle, desist, diaries, Freundlich, geary, gough, hmo, Joe, joe moore, judson false, judson true, Kaiser, law, lawsuit, lawyer, Lester, Lester Freundlich, Lester G. Freundlich, letter, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, moore, mta, Muni, muni diaries, ny, nyc, Permanente, san francisco california, SFMTA, stop, street, suit, trademark, website
Posted in transit | 1 Comment »
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
There was a jubilant mood this morning at the California Academy of Sciences‘ Leadership in Energy and Design (LEED) award ceremony this morn. Why’s that? Platinum, baby - that’s LEED’s highest possible rating. We knew about this last year - it’s never too late to celebrate, of course. But “Can Green Design be Good Design?” Hell yes, says the New Republic:
“Renzo Piano’s sublime California Academy of Sciences (CAS), one of last year’s most widely praised buildings and the winner of a platinum rating from the Leadership in Energy and Design standard system—the highest rating from the world’s leading eco-rating program. Piano is also, by the way, among the starriest of the starchitects.”
O.K. then. This morning’s mise-en-scene, the four-story rainforest dome to the left and the tower of the de Young Museum far off across the Music Concourse. Click to expand.
Jared Blumenfeld (not “Blumenthal“), Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment and interim General Manger of Recreation and Parks, explained the difficulty of attaining LEED Platinum status for those building large museums:
Mayor Gavin Newsom, don’t miss his bit today in the HuffPo: “Greening Buildings to Save Jobs“, pointing up to the famous Living Roof:
After Mayor Newsom briefly spoke of his grandfather, Arthur L. Menzies, former Supervisor of Plant Accessions at nearby Strybing Arboretum (aka San Francisco Botanical Garden), things got a little feisty. He emphatically stated that the CAS is the “envy of New York City.” O.K. then.
Comes now, Dr. Greg Farrington, Director of the Cal Academy:
He discussed a recent visit to Central Park, or as he called it, “Golden Gate Park East” and made reference to the American Museum of Natural History, which he envies for its subway access. (Dr. Farrington is actually “lusting after” the concept of a subway going to the CAS. Maybe someday…)
Dr. F went on to extol the Thursday evening nightLife program, which is targetted for those aged 21-35. He stated that Nightlife has won over fans on Facebook – for example, someone whose initial reaction was “how geeky can you get?” is now a huge fan.
He warned the audience members to be careful what they toss into the garbage at CAS. He jokingly suggested that former employees “now work at the de Young” after having gotten the boot for trash transgressions.
But he’s a big picture kind of guy, pointing out that CAS is attempting to answer two questions:
1. How did we get here?
2. How do we find a way to stay?
Fair enough.
We went from this, Renzo Piano’s original vision seven years ago…
…to this, the LEED platinum award (sadly comprised mostly of silicon and oxygen), one of just 119 in the world:
Look for it on display the next time you visit the CA Academy of Sciences.
See you there!
More deets after the jump. (more…)
Tags: academy, academy of science, academy of sciences, arboretum, architect, award, blumenfeld, building, calfiornia academy of science, california, California Academy of Sciences, central park, ceremony, council, counsel, de Young, dr., farrington, gavin newsom, gold, golden gate park, green, green building, greenest, greg, jared, leadership, Leadership in Energy and Design, LEED, Mayor, museum, music concourse, new york, nyc, phd, piano, platinum, renzo, rivalry, San Francisco, science, sciences, SF, silver, strybing, United States, world
Posted in architecture, environment | 1 Comment »
Sunday, February 8th, 2009
Popular Bay Area local Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III was just seen on the East Coast in his debut interview on 60 Minutes. Not that I ever watch that show, but I’ll check it out tonight, just for kicks. The reminder that his interview with Katie Couric was going to be on tonight came from the spike in traffic this blog just received.
It seems America is still curious about the issue of whether Sully is Jewish (see below for the online search terms people are trying right now), a question that probably wouldn’t have occurred to me otherwise. The Jewish Post of New York (Your Gateway to the Jewish World) looked into it and signs point to no. But that’s O.K., right? A better question might be why he was prepared to act correctly on that day.
The Cap’n
Of course we have a lot of knucklehead pilots up there, so how do we get more like Sully? He stands out with his military experience, the amount of experience he has generally and the number of hours he has spent cogitating about accidents. It’s nice to know that he and his ilk won’t be forced to retire at age 60 (which, until recently, was a hard and fast rule.
And speaking of Sully’s future, it looks like San Francisco politico and Sullenberger family spokesperson Alex Clemens of Barbary Coast Consulting and the famous The Usual Suspects website will have his hands full sorting through all the offers, including one from Richard Branson of Virgin Air.
Anyway, here are some of the search terms people across America are using today:
sullenberger jewish
is captain sullenberger jewish
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Tags: 1540, 320, 60 minutes, a320, a320-214, airbus, airlines, airways, American, B., bay area, bird, burnett, california, capt., Captain, charlotte, chesley, Chesley b. Sullenberger, chesley sullenberger, co-pilot, Contra Costa, county, crew, danville, daughters, ditching, east bay, f-4, f4, fans, fighter, flight, geese, german, google, hero, hudson, II, iii, Jeff Skiles, jew, jewish, Katie, katie couric, Kelly, keywords, la guardia, lga, lorrie, manhattan, Mayor, N106US, nc, north carolina, ny, nyc, obama, phantom, pilot, reliability, river, safety, safety reliability methods, search, strike, sullenberger, sullenburger, sully, terms, texas, U.S.
Posted in bay area, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
The thing you’ve got to realize, is that sometimes things just happen. It’s not your fault, it’s not anyone else’s fault, it’s just, you know, things happen. Kind of like the time spokesmodel and romance novel cover-boy Fabio got hit in the face with a bird when he was on a roller coaster. Whose fault was that?
That’s something to ponder when you consider the whining of some of the passengers of famous Flight 1549, piloted by Bay Area local Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. You see, they gots to get more money than they’ve gotten so far from U.S. Airways
Of course, the airline isn’t done talking with people yet:
“US Airways Vice President Jim Olson says that an insurance claims specialist is contacting passengers and that they’ll be reimbursed for expenses or losses above $5,000. The airline wants to ensure no passenger is “losing money for the inconvenience or anything lost during the accident,” he says”
But that doesn’t stem the whining. Obviously, this was a traumatic event, but unless passengers want to allege something about defective engines (as Geraldo Rivera seems to be doing) or negligent bird vigilance by somebody, then maybe these passengers should be happy to take the five G’s, file any additional claims and then move on with their lives.
Just saying.
An old story:
A grandmother is sitting at the beach, watching her young grandson play in the water. Suddenly, an enormous wave crashes over the boy’s head, and when it recedes, the boy is gone, washed out to sea. Frantic, the grandmother cries out to God, “Lord, what has my grandson done to deserve this? Please bring him back to me, and I’ll forever be grateful to you!” Moments later, another enormous wave crashes against the shoreline, returning the boy to the beach, soaked but unharmed. He begins happily digging in the sand, oblivious to what just occurred. The grandmother looks at the boy, then raises her head to the sky. She shouts, “He had a hat!”
Today, this tale could be updated by replacing the word “hat” with Blackberry, or cell phone, PSP, whatever.
Oh well.
Tags: 320, a320, a320-214, aa, airbus, airlines, airport, airways, American, B., bay area, bird, button, california, capt., Captain, charlotte, chesley, Chesley b. Sullenberger, chesley sullenberger, co-pilot, Contra Costa, crew, D.C., danville, ditch, ditching, east bay, f-4, f4, facebook, fans, fighter, flight, flight 1540, geese, hero, hudson, II, iii, inauguration, Jeff Skiles, jew, jewish, manhattan, N106US, nc, north carolina, ny, nyc, obama, phantom, pilot, reliability, river, safety, safety reliability methods, strike, sullenberger, sullenburger, sully, U.S., Washington
Posted in airlines | Comments Off
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
Well thousands turned out in Danville today to welcome hero pilot Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger III home. He’s been a bit busy lately, of course.
He’ll spill the beans about famous Flight 1549 to Katie Couric on 60 Minutes, February 8, 2009.
Lorrie Sullenberger with her husband in Danville today. Click to expand
We’ll just have to wait…
Tags: 1540, 320, a320, a320-214, airbus, airlines, airways, American, B., bay area, bird, burnett, california, capt., Captain, charlotte, chesley, Chesley b. Sullenberger, chesley sullenberger, co-pilot, Contra Costa, county, crew, danville, daughters, ditching, east bay, f-4, f4, fans, fighter, flight, geese, hero, hudson, II, iii, inauguration, Jeff Skiles, jew, jewish, Katie, Kelly, la guardia, lga, lorrie, manhattan, Mayor, N106US, nc, north carolina, ny, nyc, obama, phantom, pilot, reliability, river, safety, safety reliability methods, strike, sullenberger, sullenburger, sully, U.S., Washington
Posted in events | Comments Off
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
Airline pilot and local Contra Costa County webmaster (www.safetyreliability.com!, that’s his URL, srsly) really pulled the fat out of the fire today by properly ditching his crippled Airbus 320 into the Hudson River. Will he make an appearance at the upcoming Obama Presidential Inaugural Celebration or State of the Union address? (Signs point to YES.)
This former USAF fighter pilot will be soon be the talk of his small East Bay hometown: Danville, CA . [Update: It's happened already - the MSM has staked out his family's "spacious house" and talked to the neighbors, so the fam is hiding out in the dark, sustaining themselves on take-out fast food delivered by friends. Well, here he is, the man with "twinkly, fatherly eyes"]
www.safetyreliability.com The eye twinkling here is assisted by on-camera flash catchlights and Photoshop’s unsharp mask (USM) function, set at 20, 60, 0. Click to expand
Did he or co-pilot Jeff Skiles of Oregon, Wisconsin press the Airbus 320 “ditch button?” Maybe. That jet certainly floated like a cork for a while. Apparently, “pressing the guarded “DITCHING” button causes the pressurization system to send a “CLOSE” command to:
- the outflow valve,
- the emergency ram air inlet,
- the avionics ventilation inlet and extract valves,
- the pack flow control valves
thereby making the aircraft fuselage as watertight as possible and hopefully enabling it to stay afloat long enough for everyone to get out before it sinks.” The More You Know… Hey Boeing, do you have something simple like this?
It appears ”Sully” did a masterful job all around, especially when you consider the fact that the temperature of the water was “likely much colder” than 20 degrees(!), per WCBS. (You know, some captains don’t always go the extra mile for passengers when the ship is going down.)
N106US from less eventful times, in its old livery. Via Drewski2112 Click to enlarge.
And speaking of safety, has any large (100 passengers or so and up) commercial jet airplane gotten in a crash that killed a paying passenger in America since the end of 2001? I can’t think of any flights where that’s happened. Good for us. The trend is our our friend, isn’t it? Of course, the fashion these days is having large jets with just two engines (instead of three or four). When you’re heading into a flock of birds, it would probably be nicer to have more engines than less, but this kind of thing is a fairly rare occurance.
Now, San Francisco’s SFO has had its fair share of birdstrike victims, including Virgin America Flight 837 (yes Air Colbert, named after Stephen Colbert) and, speaking of Virgin Airlines, a Virgin Boeing 747 back in 1995. Let’s hope the growing geese population of the Bay Area doesn’t start hanging out at airports. But let’s leave that issue for another day.
Today, it’s three cheers for old-school, safe, reliable, Facebook.com cover-boy, possible nominee for U.S. Senate representing New York Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III!
[Update: For some odd reason, a colossal number of people are searching Google right now using the terms "sullenberger jewish?" and "wesley sullenburger jew." I don't know the answer, but the question itself must be, in the words of famous local playwright Josh Kornbluth, "Good for the Jews".]
Tags: 1540, 320, a320, a320-214, aa, airbus, airlines, airport, airways, American, B., bay area, bird, button, california, capt., Captain, charlotte, chesley, Chesley b. Sullenberger, chesley sullenberger, co-pilot, Contra Costa, crew, D.C., danville, ditch, ditch switch, ditching, east bay, f-4, f4, facebook, fans, fighter, flight, geese, hero, hudson, II, iii, inauguration, Jeff Skiles, jew, jewish, la guardia, lga, manhattan, N106US, nc, north carolina, ny, nyc, obama, phantom, pilot, reliability, river, safety, safety reliability methods, strike, sullenberger, sullenburger, sully, U.S., Washington
Posted in airlines | 20 Comments »
