Indianapolis airport: The old and new

Among all the airports in this world, I used to hate the Indianapolis airport the most. Wait. I take it back. I used to hate the Indianapolis airport the most among all the airports in this country. Too bad I forgot this world is not only about the United States: How can I not register there is also India? That Indian trip requires a separate post…

The old “Indy” airport is horrendous. Yes, it was a small airport, but had the longest taxi time ever. Normally expect a 15-minute pleasant runway time after the captain happily pronounced “we have landed at the Indianapolis international airport”.

It also had the dirtiest carpet and passenger seats that I had ever seen. Ironically, the seats were in the colors of red, blue and white, and were arranged in the exact order of these we see on any American flags. Unfortunately, I cannot call that white chair white: It looked like grey to me. I also cannot call that blue chair blue. Ignoring all these coffee stains and scratches, it looked like another shade of grey — “blue” grey — to me.

There were no airline lounges either. Hummm, pardon my ignorance. I need to do a bit more research before asking the question how an “international” airport had not a single airline lounge. But again, it depends on how we define “international”, right? Isn’t it very often the scope of that word depends on our ego?

One thing I hated the most in that tiny airport, was that special security machine — not these we see day by day, but the one that blows air on you, which gives you the longest time of pass-through: you have to enter into this cube-like machine, wait for the door to close, the air to blow on you, and then the instruction for you to step out. On top of that, the air smells. I am not a chemistry major, but I was told pure air does not smell. Every time I was asked to step into that machine, the popped air smelled like some sort of metals, and almost made me puke. “It is just air. There is no chemical in it”, the TSA agent insisted. In the end I shook my head and walked away. They should go back school.

One time, around 12:30 PM of a week day, I was rushing for a flight, and was shocked to see the extremely long line snaking all the way out of the security check point at Concourse A. Apparently, their system was down, and the person who can reboot the system was on lunch break and could not be found. So the only security check through machine that was still functional was this air-blowing “granny”, which took forever to screen a passenger. Hence the long line.

One gentleman ahead of me joked that he once waited 40 minutes to go through the security check point here. Much longer than all the major cities he has been through, including the Reagan National. A lady behind me agreed and added that even at airports in New York or DC she had never seen that kind of air-blowing machine at the check points. So a third passenger wondered why the airport administration at the Indy airport worries so much — “Why would a terrorist bother to attack this pathetic place in the first place?” he mocked, “What can they bomb? some race car tracks?”

Now in the mid November opened the new Indianapolis airport. Not a renovation from the old, but a brand new airport. It is modern, trendy, bright, clean and spacious. Finally, some much-needed hardware upgrades.

Well, still no airline lounges, but there is a free WIFI. Still no many trendy restaurants, but at least more Starbucks. And thank god they now have all the seating in black, similar to these seats you would see in the Detroit International Airport.

I like the new airport. Yes, parking is a headache, but at least I have not seen that special air-blowing machine at the check point so far.

Let’s just hope this feeling lasts long enough to conclude my ranting and to cross the old impression from my top ten most “hate” list…

Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name” MV

Stinky monkey was surprised when I told him that there is a HD version of the music video of Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name”, the theme song for the 2006 James Bond movie “Casino Royale”, at YouTube.

I already saw the music video clip for the new James Bond movie “Quantum Of Solace”. Boy, there is no comparison. The theme song for the Quantum Of Solace is rather disappointing.

The good part is that the music video comes with lyrics, and you can watch it in HD quality. The official address at youtube for this music video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zux8YUxen8

Sting’s Desert Rose music video

Finally, I find a relatively good quality version of this music video. I love the song and think the music video is rather creative. The talented Cheb Mami demonstrated his beautiful voice, as usual.

National Geographic has a much better/clearer version of this music video. The link is: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/music/genre-wm/rai/desert-rose-wm.html. Some day I will figure out an easy and nice way to download videos from sources other than YouTube without adding tons of buttons on my web browser…

BBC’s report: “‘Love handles’ raise death risk”

BBC published a report titled “‘Love handles’ raise death risk”.

News source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7723918.stm

2008/11/13 02:01:51 GMT

“Love Handles” Raise Death Risk

Carrying extra fat around your middle dramatically increases your risk of early death, even if your overall weight is normal, say researchers.

A study of almost 360,000 people from nine European countries found waist size a “powerful indicator” of risk.

Each extra 2ins (5cm) raised the chance of early death by between 13% and 17%.

The New England Journal of Medicine study stressed GPs should regularly measure patients’ waists as a cheap and easy way to assess health.

The link between waist fat and health problems has been established for some time, but the sheer size of the study gives scientists a far more accurate picture.

The researchers, including some from Imperial College London, followed the volunteers, who were an average of 51 years old at the start of the study, for the next 10 years, during which time 14,723 of them died.

The standard measure of obesity, body mass index (BMI) remained a reasonable predictor of health problems, with those with a high reading more likely to die from cardiovascular disease or cancer.

However, the ‘hip/waist ratio’, a number produced by dividing the waist size by the hip measurement, and just the waist measurement on its own, were both good ways of sorting out those at highest risk.

A thickening girth can be a sign of type 2 diabetes

Some people who had a completely normal BMI score, but a larger than average waist, were at significantly higher risk of early death.

At the extremes, men with waists exceeding 47ins (119cm) had a doubled rate of death compared with those with waists under 31.5ins (80cm), and a similar statistic was found when women with waists over 39ins (99cm) were compared to those under 25.5ins (64.7cm).

An increase in risk of death could be plotted every time the belt was let out by another two inches – for two people with the same BMI, every additional 2ins (5cm) on their waistband added up to a 17% increase in risk for men, and 13% for women.

Professor Elio Riboli, from Imperial College London, said: “We were surprised to see the waist size having such a powerful effect on people’s health and premature death.

“There aren’t many simple individual characteristics that can increase a person’s risk of premature death to this extent, independently from smoking and drinking.”

He added: “The good news is that you don’t need to take an expensive test and wait ages for the result to assess this aspect of your health – it costs virtually nothing to measure your hip and waist size.”

Fat message

The reason for the link is not entirely clear, but another researcher, Dr Tobias Pischon, from the German Institute of Human Nutrition at Potsdam-Rehbrucke, said that abdominal fat was not like other fat reserves, but could directly influence the development of chronic disease by releasing “messenger substances”.

BODY MASS INDEX
Calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres squared
Normal: 18.5 – 24.9
Overweight: 25 – 29.9
Obese: Above 30

A British Heart Foundation spokesman welcomed the findings, saying they supported previous research which found the risk of heart disease to be higher when fat was concentrated around the waist area.

“It is important a variety of measurements are used to assess body weight and shape. – as well as BMI (Body Mass Index), waist circumference and waist-hip ratio can help to provide a better assessment of health risk.

“If you tend to gather weight around your middle, increasing the amount of activity you do and watching what you eat will help to reduce your risk of heart disease and of dying early.”

John McCain’s conceding speech

The only thing I am thrilled about this election is it is finally over. I was watching French24 – as Stinky Monkey once commented, “the news is funnier and woman (anchor) prettier” — streamling online that evening while working on the endless deadlines.

Then it came the conceding speech by John McCain.

Honestly, I do not know this guy that much, except that he was running at the wrong time. He probably could have done better if it is 2004 instead of 2008.

This speech has changed my view. It is a classic. Humble, graceful, and honorable. This man deserves my respect.

Pikolinos

“That pair of shoes you were wearing yesterday,” said one of my colleagues, “so cute, so creative. What brand are they?”

Of course anyone can figure out the gender of this colleague right out of this question.

In fact, two colleagues made the same comments on the same day, on my PIKOLINOS “Bariloche” Skimmer.

At that time, I could not recall on top of my head the brand name. “It is a Spanish brand,” I said, “and it is on the comfort side of shoes”.

Then I remember the uniqueness of this brand: that flying bird logo, implying the freedom of being able to go anywhere, and always moving forward.

Why all of sudden I have become a huge fan of Spanish fashions? Custo for fashion outfits, Tous for silvers and bags, Pikolinos for shoes.

Of course I like my Pikolinos Bariloche. The white stitches transformed an ordinary pair of shoes into life. They are elegant but dynamic, so you can pair them with anything, from dress suits to blue jeans. On top of that, they are so comfortable.

Given what I have to go through at the airport securities these days, I always wear slip-ons. But I would prefer something fun than plain.  

So this evening when I clicked the Pikolinos collection at Nordstrom in order to send the link to my two colleagues, I spotted another pair of Pikolinos shoes. ”Wow, this pair looks so cute! I want them!”

“Didn’t you still have 5 pairs of shoes, brand news, a.k.a. never worn, in original boxes stacked in your closet?” My friend asked.

A fact so true that it is beyond any doubt or debate.

Truth is not always pleasant.

What a shame.

Then I watched the movie “Sex and City” DVD. 

Well, comparing to Carrie (the lead character in the movie) who virtually left a pair of $500 designer shoes unworn in her empty closet, maybe I am not that bad.

Or, does it mean this is true as long as I could not have the same huge size of the closet that she had in that movie?

The first day of November (updated)

The indian summer has been pleasant. The weather is not too cold, so I can go out and watch trees turning colors.

The kids of the buildings near where I stay partied late last night, so the neighbourhood has been quiet around this morning.

This is the best part of the fall that I love. The color of fall leaves is amazing.