Adventures of a G-Daddy with his two G-Daughters…

Ever wondered what you are capable of doing in 5 seconds. Well in certain situation it can be an eternity like those movie scenes shown in slow motion that if played in real time would be like a flash if you blinked you missed it…

I recently had a situation that required immediate reaction with 5 seconds to spare. I was helping my daughter at Sam’s Club. My daughter took the elevator with the shopping cart and I took the two rascals on the escalator. The escalator we took is like a conveyor belt on a incline not like the escalators at the shopping malls. I held the hand of my 1 year old granddaughter and let the 3 year old granddaughter walk along the escalator telling her to be careful and good. OK big mistake she ran all the way up the escalator and got off it. I told just wait there do not go anywhere…

Almost up to the top of the escalator when the 3 year old decides to get back on the escalator to join me and her sister. She slipped of course not realizing entering a escalator against the normal flow is not good. There were some kids doing that earlier and I told my granddaughter that’s not good to do it dangerous. Well I guess she wanted to try it out. Oh back to the story. As my granddaughter slipped and fell on the soft rubber of the escalator I let go of her 1 year old sister so I could pick her up before she gets caught in the area at the top of the escalator where the rubber goes under the escalator comb plate. I jumped into action, I was able to get her up in time and off the escalator to safety. Oh no the 1 year old is flat on her back like a turtle enjoying a ride. The scene looked like from a cartoon where the villain ties the damsel in distress to a piece of lumber on a table saw conveyor belt to be cut in half. I swoop down and pick her up with no time to spare and get off the escalator. We are all safe. My daughter greets us and we all act like nothing happened…

The moral to the story is it helps to be a young G-Daddy but keep an eye on the little ones on any escalator they are all dangerous…

Drake
aka @iTheDrake on Twitter

Bayshore Mall looking down from the third floor. Ottawa, Ontario.

Web site: www.robhuntley.ca
Click on the image to go straight to the same image on my website.

Made by Fritz Panzer

Driving Fail

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jj are finally getting a 12″ vinyl release on the Japanese label Escalator for their jam From Africa To Malaga. Their cd n° 2 from ealrier this year is definitely one of my favorites of the year – especially if you look at my iTunes playcounts! This new track Baby (a cover) is on the B-side, along with another new one called The Truth.

Until their recent live shows, this was the first glimpse at the duo in action. This montage collects the songs Things Will Never Be The Same, Intermezzo and an acoustic take of My Love - which is when you get to actually see the two of them, seemingly like a peeping-tom from the streets.

I’ve posted a few more post-jump…

The song that started it all, My Swag, My Life…

Their take on the Welcome Back Kotter theme…

Someone likes tennis!! Don’t think this is jj, but it does come from the Sincerely Yours site, so maybe it is The Tough Alliance. They like to keep things mysterious over there…

And finally, some live footage of the jam Masterplan…

I love how the guys that are singing along – louder than the singer – have that accent. She, I believe her name is Elin, reminds me of a drunk version of the Dixie Chicks singer.

This afternoon, I went to Shen Zhen for meeting with our lawyer.

After our meeting, we are going to have a high-tea. As the receptionist instructed that the restaurant, we were going to, located up-stair in a shopping mall.

When we been there, we found that the Escalator have been stopped. What happen ? I just saw a lady down here by the Escalator just before we step in the door!  We just wondering how can I go up there since I’m the disable one. There was a boy just bypass the Escalator and it start work… Oh, it’s a Escalator with sensor to detect it’s necessary usage to save the Energy Crisis.

But, I never seen a Escalator like this one in Hong Kong. Well, for this kind of Energy saving, I think Hong Kong have been step behind from China Mainland already. Hong Kong, it the time we have to think about it.

Looking through the latest photographs of the Hajj over at Big Picture, what stuck out to me was the sheer diversity of people who visit. I can’t think of any other comparable event that draws that many people from around the world to one spot. Of the other major religions – Catholicism and Judaism certainly don’t, I’m pretty sure Buddhism doesn’t, and I don’t think Hinduism does either.

The range of people leads to plenty of culture shocks:

As we ascended the escalators, a group of African women, barefoot in navy and spinach-coloured gowns and clearly unfamiliar with the sharp, toothy steps, attempted a descent. They clutched the side rails and were dragged on to the treads. They crouched in a surfing pose and tried to ride the escalator as if it were a funhouse floor, until they finally sat down. Noticing their distress, a guard came over and stopped the intimidating contraption. At this point, the women, laughing among themselves, stood and walked down…In the food court, which Abel and I had pictured as one mouthwateringly comprehensive buffet, we ate halal Hardee’s roast beef sandwiches and curly fries.

Plus, Hajjis return with a “feeling of unity with fellow Muslims and outsiders, whether from different race, color or even different faith” (it’s an interesting study; read it!).

If you have visited Japan, perhaps you have noticed that people tend to pay attention to where they stand on an escalator: one side is for standing, one side is for walking. Now, if you live in Japan, you’ve surely figured out which side to stand on and which side to walk on…but have you really? While it is common knowledge to most Japanese, it may not be widely known to others that Kansai (especially Osaka) and Kanto have different escalator rules. My first sojourn in Japan was in Tokyo, and I learned to stand on the left and walk on the right; when I came to Osaka for the first time, I was confused to find that people here stand on the right and walk on the left. This tendency persists in the vicinity of and to the west of Osaka, and the Tokyo rules apply all around eastern Japan (as far as I know).

I have asked many people why this occurs, but nobody had any idea, so I searched the interwebs in Japanese and English and found the following theories:

• During the Tokugawa Period, Edo (now Tokyo) was a city of samurai, who preferred to be on the left so they could draw their swords easily. Osaka, on the other hand, was a city of rich merchants, who preferred to be on the right so they could protect their money and valuables. This was, of course, before escalators existed, and most samurai probably didn’t walk around looking for chances to cut people down. Not to mention many other holes in this theory.
• Osaka adopted the “American style” and Tokyo adopted the “British style.” I don’t know about the British, but I know that we have no established customs for using escalators in the United States. Furthermore, Tokyo is the one with more American cultural influence, not Osaka.
• Because Osaka wanted to be different.

The last possibility seems to be the least unlikely one, as Osaka and Tokyo are rivals, culturally and otherwise. But in the end, it’s still a total mystery to me. Additional theories are welcome.

At least you now know how to spot a Tokyoite in Kansai.

BONUS WALKING TIP: In Tokyo, bikes dodge pedestrians. In Osaka, you’d better move or be prepared to die when you hear that bike bell ding.

Tuesday afternoon Oz and I made the two hour journey down south to see a few bands play. We did the same thing we always do when we go down to Boca Raton: gawk at rich people. Their cars, houses, offices, boats. Nothing is safe. After walking around the mall and laughing at all the things we can’t buy, we decided to take a drive down to Deerfield beach.

Do you ever think that some people just have TOO much money?

A law office on Federal Highway

Then, to kill some time before the show, we went for a stroll through Target. A Target that has two stories (!).  At the risk of looking like a country bumpkin, I had to snag a picture. Don’t worry, I hid in the candle aisle. I don’t think anyone saw me.

An escalator? In TARGET?

After that, we hopped in the car and headed to Nick’s house where we dumped off our stuff and got pretty:

From there it was a quick car ride to downtown Ft. Lauderdale to Revolution Live where Emory, August Burns Red, an Underoath were playing.

Once we got our tickets scanned and wristbands attached, we headed into the mouth of hell. It was about 120 degrees inside the club and the air was so wet and heavy it felt like it would crush you to the floor. The first band was finishing its set, but it already smelled like sweaty hair. As we pushed through the crowd, I started taking mental notes on all of the ridiculous people that were there. I noted several different types of people:

• 12-year-old girls with fake IDs, miniskirts and black hooker boots. They mostly tried to look cool while getting pushed around and spilling their beer on each other.

• Long-haired, sweaty, shirtless guys who were moshing on the lower level.

• Tall, gangly guys wearing baggy ’90s Jnco jeans, black mesh T-shirts and as many chains as they could physically carry.

• Emo losers with multiple lip rings and black hair matted down to one side with sweat.

• A random high school math teacher who was there by himself.

Once we’d pushed our way to a spot where we could see the stage, the drums started beating, the band was on stage and the crowd went insane. The whole room reverberated with the sound of August Burns Red and you could feel the bass in your heart. The crowd pushed back and forth while people flew through the air.

August Burns Red

Unfortunately, all we had was Oz’s camera phone to document the concert with. Our favorite band member was the chubby guitarist, Brent Rambler,  who was wearing a light blue polo T-shirt, jeans and flip-flops. He rocked the shit.

Win.

August Burns Red had a really clean sound. The bass was tight and there was very little distortion on the vocals, which were much deeper in person than on the album. While the breakdowns rumbled, Jake Luhrs, the lead singer, swung his microphone around on the wire and jumped up on the front speaker. He screamed as loud as he could and beat his chest to the beat of the double bass. At one point during the set, Rambler even broke a guitar string, but the other guitarist picked up his part and the performance was seamless. They saved the best two songs, “Back Burner” and “Composure” for last. A stellar performance.

After their set, we pushed our way outside to get some air. What really sucked was that the “porch” was a twelve by twelve foot space with about 40 people crammed into it. Everyone was smoking and ashing on each other. Then it was back inside for Underoath. Neither of us were super thrilled about seeing them, but we stayed for a few songs. However, when it started smelling like a hot pile of garbage, it was time to leave. I really think somebody shat themselves.

After the concert we got some much needed Slurpies at 7-Eleven and drove back up to Boca. There we saw my favorite sign of the day:

When you just don’t care anymore: Phuket Thai.

Captured in an Italian grocery store. You can ride it with your shopping cart, and the cart just stay, without rolling anywhere! Amazing!

“technology” for Photo Hunter

As Americans get ready for the friggin “Black Friday” nightmare (aka the after party of Thanksgiving), I thought I’d  give you a  few words of warning. Friggin escalators people, friggin escalators!

Psst Interpretation for non Americans …..”Black Friday” = busiest retail shopping day of the year when people turn into Satan to snatch a bargain (preferably out of someone else’s hands). Doors of retail stores usually open as early as 5am so people can get the stampeding , trampling and grievously bodily harming  over and done with before breakfast.Keeps the staff busy too, sweeping out the dead!

Voilà une manière ludique de promouvoir sa marque, ici, c’est un magazine qui est en l’auteur, il s’agit de Demolicion, une revue de sports extrêmes.

This video is shown as a form of free use.

So my sister just showed me this clip. I really enjoyed the message of the “fun theory”. Basically make something fun and people will do it more. This is a clip of a trash bin where they make a sound as you drop trash into it. Check it out.

This video is shown as a form of free use.

This is clip is by the same makers of the trash bin but here they make people take the stairs more often. They construct a stairway piano. Creative, fun, and good excercise – I love it!

I was shopping with family & friends at the Town Center in Boca Raton and saw this beautiful nativity display inside.  There was also a Hanukkah display on the other side of the mall.

In Neiman Marcus, there was a creative display over the escalator of butterflies and small mirrors that looked impressive.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.

Photo via rox sm via flickr

This morning this guy sidled up beside me right as I was reaching the top of the escalator leaving the metro station. Then he blatantly grabbed my ass. I shoved him to the other side of the escalator and he kind of tripped onto the concrete and then ran away. The idiots handing out the examiner and the express just said “oohhhhhh” like someone was getting sent to the principal’s office. I would have reported him but he had already run away. Must be his strategy to watch girls’ asses all the way to the top of the escalator and then grab them so he can run away quickly. Ridiculous.

Submitted by Anonymous on 11/19/2009

Location: Dupont Circle

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Thanks to the unseasonably mild temperatures and sunny days, forming and pouring of the escalator and elevator pit walls moved forward this week without delay. Production was accelerated by the use of steel forming panels as opposed to conventional forming systems.

Progress was also made in forming and pouring of the Atrium stairwell stem-walls using the same procedure as above.

Additional erosion control activities took place at the current stockpile of soils that were generated from excavation of the foundation system for the parking deck. Temporary seeding utilizing hydroseeding methods is yet another effort to ensure the protection of the Levisa River. The grass that will grow on the soil will act as a binder to prevent excess material from spilling into the river system, thus protecting the beauty and quality of the waterway that meanders through the heart of Grundy.

What a week! The excitement in the air was elevating. But I don’t need to remind you that last week, Nov 8th -14th, was National Elevator Escalator Safety Awarenesses Week! Who could forget? It’s always the second full week of November!

This is a promotion of public safety awareness for the industry’s equipment. Everyone is invited to make this special week a huge success in cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Safety Week provides a focal point for the industry, on a local and national level, to join together as individuals, companies and organizations and spread the word about public safety in the elevator industry. At the same time, Safety Week is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions made by the industry to the quality of life. Volunteers reach millions of riders with important safety messages in many locations during this celebration. - Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation (founded 1991)

Personally, I made this year’s Nat Double-E Safetay Week (as we say in certain circles) a huge success, by volunteering at my local subway station, with the aid -of course- of my $350 Safety Week Kit (What a steal! These are still available!). I set up camp at the bottom of the escalator, and spread the good word to my fellow Boston T Riders! It felt great to reach out to my community, knowing I was joining together with individuals everywhere, doing our part to spread escalator and elevator safety across this great nation, and parts of Canada.

$350 Safety Week Kit: Planning Guide, a table cloth customized with the EESF Safety Week logo, an EESF display banner, 2 Safe-T Rider DVDs, 5 Safe-T Rider posters, 500 Safe-T Rider Activity Books and 500 Safe-T Rider stickers. (EESF.org)

However, Kinko’s refused to sponsor the cause, charging me in full for my custom ‘Safe-T ‘ emergency flow charts (still available). Some people just can’t get into the true spirit of Escalator & Elevator Safety. And that troubles me on a deep patriotic level.

If it were up to me, every week would be National Elevator Escalator Safety Awareness Week. Instead, the national calendar focuses on trivial pursuits. African American’s get the whole month of February, for history! And Flag Day?! That’s an inanimate object! I think, as a nation, we need to step back and re-prioritize our national days of respect. Maybe even do some calendar re-arrangements.

The nation’s safety is at stake, and the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation has to share its single week with Veteran’s day! They already have monuments! I think I speak for the entire EESF when I say, get your own day, Veterans! It’s just one stupid day. I’m sure you can squeeze it in somewhere else. In the meantime, the EESF is trying to make the nation safer. Maybe you should stop shining your purple hearts, and help!

I’m proposing year-round Elevator Escalator Safety Awareness. “According to industry experts, elevators and escalators are the safest form of transportation in the world,” reports Ashley H. Rains, EESF Public Relations director, in her 5 page article, Riding Elevators and Escalators Safely. Yet injuries still occur! People simply are not aware of the danger. Just yesterday, my right shoe lace came lose on an escalator and crept uncomfortably close to the end of the stairwell. Fortunately, I had the quick wit to slip my foot out before the event-horizon, and I abandoned the shoe altogether.

That is the readiness the American public needs to adopt. Why? Let me drop some data on you:

• Fact: Dozens of Americans deal with elevator/escalator related injuries or sickness on a monthly basis.
• Fact: In case of fire, use stairs.
• Fact: Elevators and Escalators are on the rise.

The threat is real. The solution is simple. Write to your local congressmen, make them aware of this important issue’s prominence, and ask them to promote year round safety awareness initiatives.

Ride safely.

And remember: when approaching a closing elevator door, leave it alone. Wait for the next one. If you’re on an elevator with violators of this rule, calmly step off, and report them to the EESF.