American Airlines: A mid-century dream

Edward McKnight Kauffer (14 December 1890 – 22 October 1954) was an influential American-born artist noted for his avant garde graphic design and poster art, especially in England. In 1947 he was approached to do a series of posters for American Airlines. It remained his primary client until his death in 1954. – Wikipedia

Foggy Vision

Went out for a ride yesterday. It was off and on, sunny then foggy. Makes for some beautiful pics.

ZOMG! Another bird strike!

Apparently all bird strikes are now newsworthy.

Another aircraft grounded after hitting bird

(CNN) — A bird struck an Arkansas hospital’s helicopter Saturday, tearing a hole into the aircraft’s nose and prompting the pilot to land early, according to officials and pictures taken after the landing.

The pilot made a safe, normal landing after hitting the bird, and the helicopter will be returning to service after some quick repairs. Nothing to see here folks.

Did they forget the fact that this type of thing happens thousand of times a year? According to CNN’s own reporters

More than 56,000 bird strikes were reported to the FAA from 1998 to 2004

I hope the doesn’t go on too long.

Apparently we should buy while the buyings “good”.

I read an article in the Vancouver Sun’s Housing section this weekend which made me laugh out loud and disgusted. A little background first.

On January 9, 2008 the CBC reported:

Canada’s economic growth will slow down this year, but will avoid a recession, top economists at Canada’s biggest banks agreed…The five economists don’t see a recession in the U.S. either, although some say it will be close…

Fast forward to October 6, 2008:

Canada is headed into a worse recession than anyone expected, one that could last until almost 2010, said the country’s top economists on Monday.

And finally this January 14, 2009 article:

Canada’s economy will get swamped by the global economic tsunami this year as the national GDP contracts in the first nine months, according to a new outlook released by the Conference Board of Canada Wednesday.

The Ottawa-based business think-tank said Canada’s gross domestic product will shrink for the first three quarters of 2009, a drop that will result in an overall economic contraction of 0.5 per cent for the entire year.

Which is why this article about the Vancouver housing market was so mind boggling.

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Why a buyer’s market is a first- timer’s market
BY KIM PEMBERTON VANCOUVER SUN
The Vancouver Sun
17 Jan 2009

As a first-time homebuyer Cynthia Barros is excited about owning her own place, although worried about getting the timing right. Barros and a friend plan to co-own a home, their way of possessing that first rung of the property ladder. And…read more…

Tech Tags: The Vancouver Sun newspaper Westcoast Homes

So, when the reporting on the Vancouver market go from this March 17, 2008 article:

Anyone looking for a dip in the British Columbia real estate market before buying a home might reconsider their strategy.

A report by the Credit Union Central of British Columbia predicts housing prices will continue to rise by as much as 10 per cent this year and as much as seven per cent in 2009.

To this January 5, 2009 article:

A seven-year real estate bubble has burst in the Metro Vancouver housing market, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said Monday.

Prices have dropped almost 11 per cent between December 2007 and the end of 2008, and [David Watt of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver] said the perception is that prices are still falling, so it is hard to identify the bottom of the market.

you have to think that, maybe, things aren’t peachy-keen. So that’s why I’m more than a little skeptical when, in this article, Mr. Watt quoted:

Most first-time buyers today are hesitant and will end up waiting too long before getting into the market…he talked recently with a mortgage lender from one major charter bank in Vancouver who reports there’s a huge inventory of pre-qualified “ people who are just sitting on the fence.”

“ It takes more courage to go against the crowd and buy in a buyer’s market.”

Thanks Dave, but the average condo price in Vancouver is still too rich for my blood, and the blood of the majority of first-time buyers.

Cam Good of Mac Real Estate Marketing Solutions…believes the time is right now, particularly for first-time buyers because of the affordability.

“ It’s as good as it gets now in terms of affordability. It’s been a long time coming.”

“As good as it gets” implies that we are at the bottom of the market “dip“. Does anyone really believes this, Mr. Good of Mac Real Estate? (This is the same company BTW, that is selling off Onni properties in a “fire-sale”.)

Cameron Muir, the B. C. Real Estate Association’s chief economist [says] “ Affordability is much better today than it has been for two years.”

Muir says he doesn’t expect prices will make any further significant drops. And he anticipates, once buyer-confidence returns, a “ modest increase” in sales by the spring.

And I’m sure he has a lot of evidence to back this opinion up. I’m not buying it, in any way.

Flight 1549: New video

In this world you can probably be sure that when you go out in public, you will probably be on camera for most of it. As New York scours its multiple feeds, it continues to come up with more shots of the plane crash in the river. This clip, from CNN.com is the most clear yet, and is an incredible watch. Check it out.

Flight 1549: On safety and citizen journalism

The recent accident in New York, in which a US Airways Airbus A320 was forced to ditch in the Hudson River, is a prime example on the future of citizen journalism, bloggers, and their role in today’s instant information culture. According to Silicon Alley Insider, twitter user Janis Krums was the first to post a photo of the accident from his iPhone on a ferry heading to the crash site.

I am a long-time Wikipedia user (5 years and counting), and an avid reader of the “Crowd Powered Media” site NowPublic.com. I believe that while this type of reporting may never completely replace the quality work done by trained professionals, it is a fine way to complement their contribution, by getting firsthand accounts, witness statements and pictures and video out to the masses long before a polished report is completed for the 5 O’clock news or the morning paper.

On another note, it will be interesting to see the backlash from this accident in the media. According to this report 200 people have been killed by bird strikes in the past 20 years. Also:

Most commercial airlines are now replacing older, three- and four-engine planes with more efficient double-engine aircraft. Because these newer engines are quieter, birds are less likely to detect and avoid them. Worse still, fewer engines mean fewer back-ups should a plane and a flock of birds cross paths. – Time.com

Expect to hear calls for louder aircraft with more engines. ;}

Photo Credit: jimdavidson on Flickr

Cool Iris

Thanks to Price Tags for enlightening me on this program. Cooliris is, by far, the best way to browse images on the web, especially Flickr.

From the New York Times:

The product, at Cooliris.com, is a free accessory for Web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer. To help search through images and video on the Web, it transforms the browser into a shiny, black 3-D wall and scroll bar. Tap the bar and you’re zooming past an endless assortment of images that, when clicked, take you to the Web pages on which they typically appear.

Check it out. It’s free and only takes up a few Kb.

Pan Am Art Deco

I love old aviation and travel posters and advertisements. The current Porter Airlines campaign reminds me of these works of art. As part of this blog I’d like to share with you my favorites, so each week on Thursday I’ll post a new picture here. Enjoy

Condo Fire(sale)

Vancouverites don’t talk about the weather in idle times, they talk about the housing market. And the economic meltdown has made things all the more interesting. The latest news from CBC.ca is very interesting…

About 375 unsold condominiums in cities such as Richmond and New Westminster will be offered at 20 to 40 per cent off, a real estate insider told CBC News. – CBC.ca

I’m not informed enough to say what this means for the market overall, but, as a committed Vancouver renter, I say “let it rain”.

A beaut of an advert.

I just love Porter’s advertising campaign. Simple and elegant, each one is along the same lines but individually elegant. It reminds me of the Art Deco/Mid-Century-Modern style travel posters. I think I” start posting my favorites, 1 every week.

Also check out the TV commercial below.

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