Kamis, 21 September 2017

These Women Are the Last Thing Standing Between You and Nuclear War

A group of the female missileers at Minot Air Force base before going out on an all-woman alert

The difference, of course, is the scope of damage that could be levied. According to Barrington, each ICBM is 60 feet tall, weighs 79,000 pounds, and has a range of 8,000 miles. The missiles travel at 15,000 miles per hour—seven times faster than a speeding bullet. That means if you were to fly on one from New York to L.A., you'd get there in under 10 minutes. And, perhaps most importantly, each can be outfitted with a nuclear warhead. (The official Air Force line is that the missiles are "nuclear-capable," hence the "can be," but with readiness and rapidity as their objective it seems safe to assume that the missiles' rocket-like bodies are mated to nukes.) The bombs dropped over Japan during World War II released roughly the same amount of energy as 20,000 tons of TNT and killed more than 100,000 people in the process. Today's weapons are far more powerful.

The Pentagon regularly sends test messages to make sure that, when The Call does come through, the crew can recognize what is a correct order and what is not
But the missileers are more defense than offense, Moore and Dinkha insist. Their mere presence keeps enemies at bay. "It's almost a silent peace," says Dinkha. "The reason we haven't had any attacks by weapons of mass destruction is because of the deterrence we provide. I think it would just be different if we didn't have them." Even the recent heightened tensions between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un don't rattle them. "You always have it in the back of your mind that maybe tomorrow is the day," says Moore. "But North Korea testing more missiles doesn't really affect how I do my job."
 

Kamis, 16 Februari 2017

Mae Engelgeer Textiles

The Minimalist has an artist spotlight of Mae Engelgeer's textiles. I love these beautiful & dynamic designs and colorways!

These images are from her display at the recent design event ‘Inside Design: Amsterdam’ where Engelgeer showcased her ‘Woww’ collection.

I adore Mae's Tea Towel Collection, and "Fest" Collection.
  
Take a peek at Mae's website.

Prepare Yourself For an Absolute Musical Thrill!

Beloved Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music (an English, Art/Romantic rock band that I was besotted with and shaped by as a teen in the early 80s) has a whole new musical offering for 2013: The Bryan Ferry Orchestra, 'The Jazz Age.' I cannot wait to own this, but to ease the wait, we can listen to Ferry's jazzed-up, 30's-style Roxy tunes on NPR!

NPR had this to say:
This is just about the most surprising album in recent memory, and a complete joy. The singer for Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry has also enjoyed a long solo career, both as an interpreter of songs by others — Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Sam Cooke, Cole Porter, Lou Reed and many more — and as an extraordinary songwriter who's released 13 solo albums, each with its own strengths.

Still, nothing prepared me for The Jazz Age, an instrumental album which re-imagines Ferry's work and the songs of Roxy Music as if they were performed by a 1920s jazz band. Colin Good, who arranged the album (working with Ferry and The Bryan Ferry Orchestra), is a British composer and arranger known for his work in theater and television, as well as with a 1930s-style orchestra known as Vile Bodies. The result of the collaboration sounds incredibly fresh, capturing both the eccentricity that has always been a part of Ferry's music and the romance conjured up by the vintage sound. Warmly recorded and wonderfully performed, The Jazz Age (out Feb. 12) works on many levels. If you don't know the songs, the melodies stand on their own, and if you do, prepare yourself for an absolute thrill.

Listen, and be bemused, enthralled, enchanted.... enjoy!