Prince, 2007 Superbowl

I have watched every Superbowl ever broadcast, and of course every halftime show. Most are forgettable within minutes, but Prince's show in Miami in 2007 is unforgettable. I'm so sad, as a music fan, and as a fellow Midwesterner, that he's gone. His talent was unmatched and legendary. Anyone who was fortunate enough to see him live will be forever blessed. Enjoy this amazing performance once again.

RIP, Prince

One of many, but possibly his greatest solo performance. Guitars weep worldwide over this loss... as do we all.

A Strange Catch

Help!!!  :)

I grew up in a little town that had a river run thru it and that's a real gift for a kid.  My friends and I learned that river and all its moods and personalities over all four of Wisconsin's seasons.  We swam in it in summer.   We ice skated and played hockey on it in the winter.  Whenever the water ran high enough we rafted and boated it.  And whenever possible we fished it.  We pulled out out carp, bass, crapies, northern pike, bullheads, walleye, turtles, and other critters I've probably forgotten.  But until coming home this year on vacation I had never caught one of these guys.  And that's rather ironic.

Because this critter is a crawfish.

And the name of my little river is the Crawfish River.

Yes... I did put him back, unhurt, into his namesake water.

A Shameless Limited Artwork Plug

I'm a fan of artwork... especially limited lithograph or well conceived screen prints. And I'm somewhat particular about what I like, or will actually frame and hang in my house. So I don't buy much, or much very often. What I have however is quite nice. The last few years during free time at the Las Vegas Autodesk University trips I've scoured art print shops and have found a few things. But a couple years ago I got wind of a guy from London named Tom Love who was funding interesting things on Kickstarter and I knew right away he was in my ballpark taste-wise. He was in the process of doing things I'd spend money on.

His latest project is really up my personal (aviation) alley. It's a limited print set of vintage luggage tags from the old PanAm days. Tom's work is always first rate, on great paper, perfectly printed, well priced, produced in small limited runs, and individually signed and numbered. Delivery, as far away as London from me here in Hawaii has always been well packed in sturdy tubes, and protected with wrapping paper. And if something is damaged in shipping replacement is guaranteed.

As of today Tom's project is about 50% funded and halfway done with the funding period. Personally I'd really like to see this project go forward as a couple of these prints would look great framed and hung in my renovated airport engineering office. :) So if you're even remotely interested please consider committing for a print, two, the whole lot of six, or just the postcards. Every little bit will help!

To help... visit Tom's Around the World -Six Limited Edition Prints funding page on Kickstarter. The funding period ENDS on April 3!

UPDATE 3-Apl-14: The project got funded!!! Yea! So everyone who supported the project *will* be getting what they signed up for. In my case I funded all six posters plus a set of postcards. These will look really cool once I frame and hang them in my airport office. I can't think of any artwork down there that could be more perfect!

Best Wishes to Ukraine

I just looked at my stats tonight and noticed a large number of hits from Ukraine today. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you caught up in things over there currently, and hope you can get the political turmoil sorted out one way or another soon before too many more lives are lost.

Be assured over there... all of you: the world is watching.

Kinetic Typography

Conan O'Brien Kinetic Typography from Jacob Gilbreath on Vimeo.

I saw this tonite and loved it. Many of you not from the USA and not familiar with who Conan O'Brian is, or what he has done on USA television over the past 20+ yrs or so, may not know or understand the full story of what he's been thru. But in a way that doesn't matter because the message he had to share in this speech is more important. And beyond that the typography is wonderful. Those of you who may enjoy graphic design in various forms have that to wonder over as well. This is good stuff and a very creative way of reproducing a moment. I can think of other speeches where this would be effective as well. Maybe you can too.

Enjoy!

AutoCAD 2014 & Windows XP Finally Divorce

If you hadn't seen this yet the following is something you may need to know:

Microsoft® has announced the discontinuation of support for Microsoft® Windows XP operating system. Since Autodesk is aware that a large number of AutoCAD users continue to use Windows XP, they have begun notifying customers about the impact to AutoCAD software products.

AutoCAD® AutoCAD® 2014 will be the final version of AutoCAD software* that will run on the Windows XP operating system. This is important if you will continue to be using a computer with XP as the operating software:

• AutoCAD 2014 is the final release that can be installed on the Windows XP operating system.
• AutoCAD 2014 is the final version of AutoCAD that will be supported on Windows XP. 
• If you have a currently supported version of AutoCAD on Windows XP, Autodesk will continue supporting your AutoCAD software through the "support life" of the product (Autodesk support is limited to the most current version and previous three versions of AutoCAD software). 

AutoCAD® isn't the only program that will be affected.  All of the AutoCAD® verticals are going to be included.  So be sure to visit this page to get the full impact of the new policy.  You'll find more information there including detailed frequently asked questions.

Pixelstick Light Painting

Have you ever tried light painting a photograph? Have you ever wanted to? If you have a few hundred bucks burning a hole in your 2013 Christmas gift budget a couple of enterprising Kickstarter guys have something that just might just take your photography, "I'd like to be able to do that", wish list to a whole new level.

Deadline for ordering now is Dec 13, 2013. Estimated delivery is May 2014. Every Kickstarter project is a risk, but I've been involved in five (5) so far and every one has delivered exactly what I expected. YMMV.

For more information be sure to visit the Kickstarter pixelstick - Light painting evolved webpage.

OSU Magic

Often the best part of college football is the part never shown on television. But college students and fans at live games get to see it every week. Of course I'm talking about the halftime show performed by the home field band. And in this business there is simply no better marching band than the Ohio State University band. Some of the routines they've done over the years are legend, and if you've never seen them do their classic script "Ohio" you've missed a real treat.

This past weekend the OSU band outdid even themselves with their "Hollywood Blockbuster Show" in the middle of the Penn State game. I'm a Big Ten alum (Univ of Wisc '72) but I'm not alone in saluting this performance. Big Ten fans across the country this week are tipping their hats to the OSU band for simply being the best. You guys bring everyone else's halftime game up with every performance.

So if you didn't see them at the game last Saturday... or if they didn't show what went down on your tv... Enjoy them here anyway!

World Smile Day

Since 1999 the first Friday in October has been World Smile Day. This year it falls on Oct 4. Smile!

Cable Wars Again?

Every so often we (in the USA) seem to have to go down the rabbit hole above. Our cable television companies get into fights with their content providers over how much one is going to pay the other, and when they can't agree the cable delivery company simply pulls the plug. Channels like HBO, or networks like NBC, CBS, ABC, etc, just disappear from the lineup along with all their content for a while.

The cable delivery monopoly, be they Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Fox's Murdock, or others always have the upper hand because they get the signal into your house, and they get to frame the argument. Until the contract issues are settled your local news and/or favorite shows are simply yanked off the air. It's not like it used to be when everything showed up via air waves and antennae. Pay TV is here to stay. (My dad swore he'd never pay for TV. He did however.)

To quote Dennis Miller's, "I don't mean to go off on a rant here", line, I read the news about this the other day on the interweb. Then last night when I got home experienced it personally when Showtime (SHO) and a few other stations were AWOL from my channels listing along with a message about it in the onscreen guide. And today the local cable company, Oceanic Time Warner Cable (OTWC), sent me the email above. What caught my attention in particular was how that message itself was formatted! It's not very easy to read, is it?! The entire message isn't shown but trust me, it gets far more confusing further down. Yet this is on OTWC's own internet website email system!

Now you would think that if they can deliver HBO into our homes they would also be able to format an email on their own website correctly. But you'd be wrong. They can't. Their profit margins don't allow it apparently.

Meanwhile we wait for this to be resolved. I sure hope there weren't any good boxing cards on SHO this weekend because I'm missing them. And boxing is about all I watch SHO for anyway. Meanwhile, OTWC... when you get your big pay raise, hire a couple summer interns to fix your email system.

It stay broke.

Update:

Now CBS is blocking Time Warner Cable! Yes... we just read that correctly. CBS is blocking TWC. Apparently if TWC is your cable provider (mine too) all CBS content that might have been delivered to you over the interweb is now going to be withheld by CBS until the contract dispute is settled. So you can't watch them on television or on your computer. Great. Stay off long enough and I might not even care.

But will someone please tell me how this isn't CBS shooting themselves in the feet. I must be missing something.

Senator Daniel K Inouye

Today Hawaii and the entire United States lost a true American hero, Sen. Daniel K. Inoye.  In ways that will go far beyond politics, the State of Hawai‘i, including the military, airline, travel, agricultural, aviation, science and high technology industries all gained much from the senator's tenure in office and his senior ranking on several of the most powerful committees in government.

The senator was a true American hero. He was a World War II veteran, a soldier in the 442nd, "Go For Broke", Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit for its size and length of service, in the entire history of the U.S. Military.  He lost his right arm in combat near San Terenzo, Italy and earned the highest military honor the country awards, the Congressional Medal of Honor.  He served in the Hawaii Territorial legislature after the war, and went on to represent Hawaii in Washington, D.C. when statehood came in 1959.  He was the most senior member of the Senate and third in line to the US presidency. 

I was fortunate enough to meet Senator Inouye on several occasions in connection with Hawaii Airports Division projects, including the siting and construction of the new FAA air traffic control tower at Kona, during a dedication for new ARFF vehicles at Kona, and at a briefing I prepared and delivered to him and his staff once during a Hawaii visit. 

Sen. Inouye was often a man of few words, but when he spoke they all had meaning.  When he listened he did so quietly and respectfully and you always knew he missed nothing.  He however, will be missed by many.

"Aloha" to you and RIP, Senator.

A Shout Out

Antonov An124-100 on the ramp at Kona Int'l Airport, 15 Jan 2010

Здравствуйте и добро пожаловать, мои русские посетители! Иногда вас заходит на блог так много, что ваше количество превышает число посетителей из США! Я очень рад этому и надеюсь, что вам нравится мой маленький сайт. По желанию, вы всегда можете отправить мне сообщение, но прежде всего, наслаждайтесь блогом!


Дейв.

Thank you so much, Elena, for this proper translation. This is in response to my sudden popularity in Russia.

The crew of this Antonov were all Russian.  They were hauling all US military equipment on this trip.  And it was a huge load including vehicles, containers, and all sorts of material.  This was easily the largest aircraft to ever visit the airport in Kona.