Brendan I. Koerner's Blog, page 94

Let There Be Hydroelectricity

Explicitly Communist architecture gets a unfairly bad rap from critics. Sure, builders behind the Iron Curtain were overly fond of dismal panelaks and other multi-dwelling units that reeked of dingy misery. But when the last true believers in the dictatorship of the proletariat decided to go the triumphalist route, man, did they ever pull it off with quirky verve.

The most famous example of this may be the equestrian statue on Prague's Vitkov Hill, which actually conceals a secret meeting...

Swamped With Kenya

Pressing Wired deadline, so we're checking out for a spell. Enjoy the above in our absence; we'll return as soon as we sort out these monster edits.

Are You Having a Laugh?

The abundance of museums dedicated to the history of anesthesia is really something to behold. While we certainly can't deny the landmark nature of this medical wonder, we were a bit bowled over to discover so many institutions dedicated to exalting its virtues and warehousing its antique equipment.

But therein lies Microkhan gold, particularly the archival materials related to medicine's surprisingly longtime reliance on nitrous oxide. Before it was relegated to the dentist's office (and...

The Bridge Factor

In the course of questioning the utility of suicide-proof barriers on bridges, a political scientist makes an intriguing observation:

In order to determine if exposure to bridges increases the suicide rate, I examined the relationship between the suicide rate and the number of bridges likely to attract suicidal individuals in all 50 states plus Washington D.C. from 1979 through 2004 (the only years for which complete data was available). Bridges likely to attract suicide victims were defined...

Plywood Savior

Upon re-watching the infamous Arthur Digby Sellers scene in The Big Lebowski, we were recently motivated to check into the history of iron lungs. To our amazement, the archaic contraption recently received a shout-out in a Central Illinois newspaper, which recalled the invention of a more eco-friendly alternative: the wooden lung:

The six-foot-long wooden lung was built from materials "you'd find in any hardware store or lumber shop in any one horse town," noted Ralph C. Osborn, Eureka...

The Beard of Destiny

As is made clear in our mission statement, management reserves the right to occasionally drop the fascination with esoterica in favor of talking pro football (the American kind). Let us now invoke that right in order to discuss our beloved Indianapolis Colts, who yesterday clinched the top seed in the AFC playoffs.

This accomplishment brings us a modicum of joy, but perhaps a great deal less than in years past. That's not because we've lost our passion for the team, but rather due to the...

Watch for Falling Rocks

We're more than a little ashamed to admit we remember the brief Ewok craze of the mid-1980s, when two made-for-TV follow-ups to Return of the Jedi hit the tube. While we realize now that the Ewoks were a harbinger of the soul-crushing awfulness of Jar-Jar Binks, we were suckers for the furry critters back in the day. Yet even as wide-eyed fourth graders, we were disappointed with The Ewok Adventure and its Wilford Brimley-starring sequel, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. The nine-year-old brain i...

The Reaper Runs Roughshod

One of the happier trends these days is the general improvement in human life expectancy, even in nations that are suffering through armed conflict, natural disasters, or other great misfortunes. Believe it or not, for example, the average life expectancy in Afghanistan has actually increased steadily in recent years, as has the hallowed figure in such tough locales as Burkina Faso, Haiti, and Timor-Leste. (You can graph any nation's life expectancy over time with this handy Google tool.)

Bu...

The Tuxedo Years

In our never-ending quest to improve Microkhan Jr.'s rudimentary dancing skills, we've recently had to call out the big gun—the oeuvre of the Godfather of Soul. In doing so, we stumbled across the gem above, apparently taken from one of Mr. Brown's early television appearances (back when he treated the medium with far more seriousness). Well worth your two minutes, as is the rest of the poster's channel—particularly this Archie Bell & The Drells clip from way back when.

As the Haus Turns

Has any architectural innovation been as unfairly maligned as the revolving restaurant? Call such establishments as the Restaurant Skyline Mannheim and Yanggakdo Hotel kitsch if you must, but we rather like the idea of spinning around while feasting on serviceable victuals. Think of it as a sub-gourmet celebration of man's aptitude for making grand machines.

So imagine our pleasure upon discovering that our species has actually flirted with the idea of bringing revolving restaurant technology ...