Architecture, dear readers

Twee Affect reader Arthur Gugick finally finished his Lego version of the Cathedral of Intercession of Theotokos on the Moat, better known as Saint Basil's, or that one zanie Russian cathedral. It is "good".

Interiores Queen Elizabeth

O Queen Elizabeth 2, está oficialmente nas mãos da Cunard lines. Foi realizada uma cerimonia no estaleiro da Fincantieri Monfalcon com os mais altos elementos da Cunard e do Estaleiro Italiano. A Apresentação oficial do navio, acontece no próximo dia 11, de Outubro em Inglaterra mais precisamente em Southampton.

Relembro que este navio mede 292 metros de comprimento, pesa 92000 toneladas, e consegue transportar até 2100 passageiros.

Desenvolvimento: Jorge Ferreira  Foto Cunard 

Ryan Goodey's leaving bash

Sadly, Mr Goodey took his 30 pieces of silver and departed from the land of CF/WSS and headed for pastures new at KPMG.

As is customary when these things happened we headed out on the town.

First stop was The Black Friar for a few beers. My original intention had just been to pop in for one but it didn't quite work out like that. The Black Friar is a weird pub, they don't sell JD so that was my drink of choice out of the window. I ended up drinking London Pride instead, probably not a good idea *grin*

Many pints later we all staggered off play some virtual golf which basically involved a lot of drunk people trying to whack real golf balls with real clubs at a screen (with a clever machine then working out what would have happened in real life and giving us a pretty graphic animation of it). I have to say that it was absolutely hilarious and a great evening out. Even better, Steve Whalley and I won as The Goths team!

Good luck at KPMG Ryan, you'll be missed

Atomic Exposure

Sometimes it's difficult to know what your looking at without a reference point of some kind to give you an idea of scale. For instance is this a macro image of a cancer cell or maybe Hubble's latest discovery taken at the furthest reaches of the Universe? Well neither in fact these are photos taken by Harold Edgerton of a series of atomic test explosions carried out by the US government in the Nevada desert and tropical atols during the 1950's, and the scale of these explosions are immense.

Harold Edgerton was a pioneer in the field of strobe photography, his pictures of bullets ripping through playing cards or bursting through apples, or of balloons at the crucial point of popping, or even the moment when a perfect miniature liquid crown is created when a drop of milk hits the surface toured the world appearing in Life magazine, bringing the beauty of nature to the general public much in the same way the work of Eadweard Muybridge did 60 years earlier.

After the war Edgerton co founded the company EG&G, which was contracted by the US Atomic Energy Commission to make a photographic record of their nuclear tests. This was not just a simple case of setting up a camera on a tripod and standing there waiting for the bang! No this was an altogether different kettle of fish that had never been tackled before. If you know anything about photography you know that at it's most basic level it is about controlling light. The amount of light that hits your film dictates what information is captured. The light given off by an atomic explosions is  famously quoted as being the equivalent of '1000 suns' which would burn through the film placed in any conventional camera. Edgertons problem was how to allow just a fraction of this light at the film, no mechanical shutter could move quickly enough to allow a fraction of this light in, so he and his team built a new camera that worked with a magnetic shutter that opened for a matter of nanoseconds (if your interested in the mechanics there is a small video here). These cameras were positioned on towers which were several miles from the detonation site and contorled from concrete bunkers.

I am in awe of not only the scientific achievement of Edgerton's work but also the raw beauty he captured in such a fearful and destructive event. I came across the images in this post on  The New York Times site. They recently ran a series of images by Edgerton's fellow camera man George Yoshitake who talks on the site about his experience of taking these pictures, it's well worth a look and listen.

Here are a few more of those incredible images. Click to enlarge them.

The small dots on the horizon are military tanks.

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Nissan Townpod 2010 Concept

Nissan Townpod gives a simple platform, which each user can independently tune to their own peculiar requirements. Be they a musician transporting their kit between gigs, a delicatessen proprietor dispenses their wares or an architect carrying drawings to a client, each one can adapt the interior of their Nissan Townpod by proprietary as well as third-party sourced accessories.

Not so many years ago the car's essential remit might have been to get a single occupant to work five days a week, have enough trunk space for a weekly trip to the supermarket and sufficient seats to transport a nuclear family to the coast for a long weekend. More recently, classic sedans and estates have progressed into hatchbacks, MPVs, SUVs and now crossovers, all designed for particular segments of the population, but none tailored to the specific desires of individuals who cannot be, and certainly strive to not be, so easily pigeon-holed.

François Bancon, general manager of Nissan's Exploratory and Advance Planning Department, elaborates, "Only they know what is necessary for their lives, so it is logical that they should be the ones who establish the ultimate specification of their cars. For them an off-the-shelf solution is not sufficient and the best-equipped people to tailor-make their cars are themselves. What is more informative is that Nissan Townpod users do not be grateful for stereotypes or status symbols, for them the ultimate status is to have no status."

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Ayodhya Verdict Declared Today- Land to be Divided Claims Ravi Shankar Prasad

"Result of Ayodhya Verdict - Sunni Central Board Case demolished. The land will be divided between Akhara -Hindus & Muslims. (between Sunni Waqf Board, one-third to the Nirmohi Akhara and one-third to the party for 'Ram Lalla') All three judges (Justice SU Khan, Justice Sudhir Agarwal, Justice DV Sharma) agreed the site as Lord Rama birth place. It was originally the site of Lord Rama temple. Idols of the deity will not be removed.

The disputed site of Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid is once again in controversy. Let’s take a look at what all happened in the last 100 years.

1528 – In 1528 Babri Masjid was built in Ayodhya; Hindus objected ad said it was built after demolishing a Hindu temple.

1853 – First communal rite between Hindus and Muslim were first recorded in 1853.

1949 – Hindus placed idol’s of their God and Goddess inside the mosque in the month of December. Both sides of dispute filed civil suits. Government locked the gates of the masjid and declared the area as “Disputed”

1984 – Hindus started the movement to build the temple at the disputed site, claiming that it is the same place where Lord Rama was born.

1986 – After almost five decades District Judge execute orders to open the Gates of the mosque and allowed Hindu to worship inside the ‘disputed structure’
Later this year; Babri Mosque Action Committee was established to protest against the move allowing Hindus to worship at the site.

1989 – The movement to build the temple at the site gain momentum, supported by the organizations such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

1990 – In 1990, the then BJP President Lal Krishna Advani carried out rathyatra across the country to gather support to built the Hindu temple at the site. The volunteers of Vishwa Hindu Parishad damaged the Babri Masjid partially.

1991 – Due to the success of Rathyatra conducted by Lal Krishna Advani, BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh.

1992 – Again in 1992, Babri Mosque was destroyed by Karsevaks. And again communal rites followed across India.

1993 – In 1993, Liberhan Commission investigated what led to the distruction of Babri Masjid.

2001 – Again dispute arose on the anniversary of demolition of Babri Masjid as VHP reaffirmed to build the Hindu temple at the disputed site.

2002- The case went to Allahabad High Court and hearing began on determining the site belong to which group.

2003 – The court ordered to find out whether the Hindu temple of Lord Rama existed on the site. In the same following year, it became evident that there was a temple inside the mosque. But Muslims in the country disputed over the findings.

2004 – The Congress led government came to power at the center surprising every one.

2007 - The Supreme Court refused to admit a review petition on the Ayodhya dispute.

2009: The Liberhan Commission, which was instituted ten days after the demolition of the Barbri mosque in 1992, submitted its report on June 30 - almost 17 years after it began its inquiry. Its contents were not made public.

2010: Sunni Central Board demolished. He result is out there will be division of Land between Hindus and Muslims.

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River Cruise Prize Draw at The Cruise Show

By guest blogger Steve Newman

Visitors to the Avalon Waterways stand (C12) at the Daily Telegraph’s Cruise Show taking place at Birmingham’s NEC from October 16-17 will be able to take advantage of an exclusive Cruise Show booking offer, special offers as well as enter a cruise holiday prize draw.

By booking at the Cruise Show, visitors can enjoy significant savings on their holiday. Not only that, they can enter an exciting prize draw to win an 8-day ‘Tulip Time’ cruise for two, worth more than £2,800. Avalon’s brand new cruise highlights the wide open spaces of Holland and Belgium with the pretty windmills of Kinderdijk, the medieval centre of Ghent and the dazzling displays of colourful tulips at the Keukenhof Gardens.

City sightseeing includes Antwerp’s superb architecture, the cosmopolitan city port of Rotterdam and the famous canals of Amsterdam. The prize includes chauffeur-driven transfers to and from home to the nearest UK airport (within a 75-mile radius), return flights and transfers, full board accommodation and complimentary soft drinks, wine or beer served with dinner.

The Avalon team, including knowledgeable cruise director Mark Wismeijer, will be on hand to tell visitors about their sleek and young fleet of ships with luxurious facilities and spacious staterooms, sized at 172sq ft each, as well as the highest levels of personalised service, fine dining and other creature comforts.

Would-be river cruisers can learn more about Avalon’s carefully-planned itineraries, with included excursions to get the most out of visiting Europe’s fascinating cities, famous landmarks and beautiful landscapes.

With state-of-the-art technology and design, these small and intimate ships are specially designed to provide the most relaxing environment to enjoy the passing scenery. Visitors will also hear about the two new ships which have been launched this year, the Avalon Felicity and Avalon Luminary (above).

Mark Wismeijer will be taking part in a panel discussion on river cruising on Saturday 16 October at 4pm in Cruise Theatre One. With cruise expert Steve Read acting as moderator, cruise executives from a number of river cruise companies will be taking a closer look at discovering the world by river. They will be joined by well known cruising journalist Jane Archer.

For further information or to request a brochure, ring Avalon Waterways on 0800 668 1802 or look up www.avaloncruises.co.uk/show.

Dont forget to check out the full details on the Cruise Show venues at Birmingham in October (16-17) and London next March (26-27).

Sea Trials for Oceania's Marina

By guest blogger Steve Newman

Scheduled to launch in January 2011, Oceania Cruises’ new 1,250-guest Marina successfully completed her sea trials on September 26, including three days of sailing the Mediterranean for the first time.

During the trials, technicians and engineers from the Fincantieri shipyard and Oceania's own marine and technical teams evaluated the vessel’s speed, maneuverability, hydrodynamics and propulsion, among many other aspects of the ship’s performance.

“She is a beautiful ship. Marina was extremely maneuverable with virtually no vibration to be felt, even at high speeds,” stated Captain Dimitrios Flokos, the ship’s master. “Marina exceeded all expectations. In fact, shipyard representatives commented this was the most successful sea trial in recent history for technical performance.” A second and final round of trials will be run just prior to the ship’s delivery. The 65,000-ton ship – being built at Fincantieri in Sestre Ponente, Italy – is scheduled for delivery January 17.

“Her first foray at sea was a resounding success. Marina exhibited exceptional sea-keeping abilities, is amazingly agile and cruised at more than 22 knots with plenty of power in reserve,” said Robin Lindsay, the line’s executive vice president of vessel operations, who was on board during the test run. “Now that sea trials are successfully concluded, we will focus on finishing her magnificent interiors.”

The ship’s inaugural schedule includes a 13-day Maiden Voyage departing January 22 from Barcelona to Miami, where inaugural activities are planned. On February 8, Marina departs on the first of two 18-day Panama Canal transits that visit San Francisco or San Diego, both new ports for Oceania Cruises. Marina then operates a 12-day Caribbean cruise, round-trip from Miami, departing March 16, before sailing along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and on to Europe to begin her inaugural Mediterranean season.

To learn more about Marina, visit www.oceaniacruises.co.uk/ and, for great deals, check out www.cruiseline.co.uk/oceania-cruises/.

Don’t forget, too, that you can find out more in person at the wonderful CRUISE Show, which will be held in Birmingham on October 16-17 and in London next March (26-27).

Las Vegas Hotel Deals With So-Called "Death Ray"

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What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Not necessarily -- there are some things that won't stay, like burned skin and signed hair.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the sun's reflection off the south-facing Vdara Hotel is so strong that "if you're at the hotel's swimming pool at the wrong time of day and season -- can singe your hair and melt your plastic drink cups and shopping bags."

Some hotel employees have dubbed the problem the "Vdara death ray," the newspaper reported.

MGM spokesman Gordon Absher said that designers foresaw this issue and thought they had come up with an effective solution by adding a high-tech film cover to some of the glass panels. That turned out to not be completely effective as the hotel still receives complaints from some guests.

Bill Pintas, a lawyer from Chicago, is one of the guests who got more than he bargained for after a visit to the pool at the Vdara, the Review-Journal reported:

Pintas told the Review-Journal that at midday Sept. 16, after a brief dip in the hotel pool, he was sunning on a recliner. He was on his stomach, relaxed, eyes closed.

But suddenly, the lawyer became so uncomfortably hot that he leaped up to move. He tried to put on his flip-flop sandals but, inexplicably, they were too hot to touch. So he ran barefoot to the shade.

"I was effectively being cooked," Pintas told the newspaper. "I started running as fast as I could without looking like a lunatic."

When Pintas returned to his chair, he noticed that a plastic bag he was carrying a newspaper in had partially melted. Pintas said that employees and other guests he talked to were aware of the problem.

The "hot spot" as some employees are calling it, is 10 feet by 15 feet and moves with the earth. At this time of year, the spot is present for about an hour and a half each day.

Vdara management is working with architects and designers to come up with a solution to the so-called "death ray." In the meantime, there have been extra umbrellas placed on the pool deck to try and satisfy guests.

It will be tough to come up with a permanent fix because as Absher said, "This is quite literally an astronomical challenge. We are dealing with a moving target."

NFL Week 4 Picks and Predictions – NFL Week 4 Schedule

Three weeks have passed already and we are now about to enter week 4 of the NFL regular season. Three weeks ago, the 2010 NFL Regular Season just started with a season opener from Super Bowl 2010 champion New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings. Now, we are on its fourth week which will start on October 3, Sunday until October 4, Monday.

For week 4, there will be 13 NFL games on Sunday and 1 game on Monday as different NFL teams once again will prove their skills in order to advance to the much awaited Super Bowl 2011 on February 6, 2011 next year at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

For the last day of Week 4, we will have New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins. Now here is the complete NFL Week 4 Schedule 2010 together with the corresponding NFL picks and predictions from Yahoo Sports. We will update this once we get the NFL picks and predictions from the sports analysts of ESPN.

NFL Schedule of Games on Sunday, October 3, 2010:

New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills
Ralph Wilson Stadium
1pm ET on CBS
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks vs. St. Louis Rams
Edward Jones Dome
1pm ET on Fox
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Seattle Seahawks

San Francisco 49ers vs. Atlanta Falcons
Georgia Dome
1pm ET on FOX
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Atlanta Falcons

Detroit Lions vs. Greenbay Packers
Lambeau Field
1pm ET on FOX
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Greenbay Packers

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns Stadium
1pm ET on CBS
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos vs. Tennessee Titans
LP Field
1pm ET on CBS
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Tennessee Titans

Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints
Superdome
1pm ET on FOX
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: New Orleans Saints

Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Heinz Field
1pm ET on CBS
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Pittsburgh Steelers

Houston Texans vs. Oakland Raiders
Oakland Coliseum
4:05pm ET on CBS
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
EverBank Field
4:05pm ET on CBS
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Indianapolis Colts

Washington Redskins vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Lincoln Financial Field
4:15pm ET on FOX
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Philadelphia Eagles

Arizona Cardinals vs. San Diego Chargers
Qualcomm Stadium
4:15pm ET on FOX
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: San Diego Chargers

Chicago Bears vs. New York Giants
New Meadowsland Stadium
8:20pm ET on NBC
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: Chicago Bears

Monday Night Football on October 4, 2010:

New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins
Sun Life Stadium
8:30pm ET on ESPN
Yahoo NFL Expert Pick: New England Patriots

Meg Whitman's Maid On 'Jersey Shore'

Here's Meg Whitman's undocumented former housekeeper Nicky Diaz Santillan at her Gloria Allred press conference on Wednesday (left) -- and "Jersey Shore" tantastic party girl Snooki in her booking photo back in July (right).

0929_maid_snooki_just_sayin

Neither was born in the United States.

Your request is being processed... Katy Perry On SNL: Cleavage & An Elmo Shirt (VIDEO, PICTURES)

Katy Perry was the musical guest on the season premiere of 'Saturday Night Live,' and she also appeared in a skit to mock the recent cancellation of her too-bare duet with Elmo on 'Sesame Street.'

Appearing on the 'Bronx Beat' sketch with Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph, Perry played Maureen, a teen who suddenly developed breasts over the summer and was now bursting out of her Elmo shirt.

Perry comes in at 3:00, scroll below the video for stills.

This week I have mostly been listening to....

......Drum N Bass and other groovy such stuff

Why you might ask? Well there is nothing wrong with expanding ones musical outlook and already being a fan of EBM and some dance and rave music I figured why not? Jonathan at work gave me his iPod to check out some new shizz and so I did, and I rather liked it!

Lemon Jelly, Calibre and Plastikman are particular favourites of mine just now.

Don't worry, I am still a glammy, tranny, punk, goth, sleaze rocker but sometimes I like to go "alternative" *grin*

Try it one day: you never know, you might just like it!

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Imagens (©) Copyright Rui Agostinho, Lisboa.