There has been loose talk floating around that Ol' Frank has left the business of announcing airshows. But having announced shows since 1977, there comes a time when a line has to be drawn. Linda and I have a thriving Promotional Products business, and I still lease my voice to various businesses for commercial voice-over work and narrations. There are only so many hours in a week.
Summer in the southwest is always a challenge, especially when the electric bills come. Here in the Scottsdale-Phoenix metro area, Arizona Public Service changes electric rates in late May for six months; the daytime rate (9 AM to 9 PM Monday through Friday) increases by about 45%. This happens just as the need for air conditioning becomes painfully obvious. When is it hottest here? In the daylight hours! Running the A/C in the house and in the separate office building is a necessity and becomes painful when the bill from APS arrives.
After having announced airshows since 1977, standing out there on the announcing stand or on the ramp for what has become six hours or so each show day, I decided a couple of years ago that I just didn't want to stand there in the heat through the months of June, July and August. So with very few exceptions, I decided to announce only in the spring and the autumn. The exceptions? I will go to New England at any time of year to announce a show, having lived there for 23 years and missing it terribly. The other exception is a show which really is a product demonstration as in a trade show. I am under cover with fans, or inside a glass-walled air-conditioned studio with all the cold water I could ever want.
Of course I continue to function as lead race announcer at the Reno Championship Air Races. Although the races are in mid-September, I have so much help in the form of spotters, timers, the local "99s" putting my spotting boards together, my "Pit Bull Pit Boss", and representatives for each class of racing plus Steve Stavrakakis to help with the unlimiteds and Danny Clisham to announce the civilian aerobatics, I don't mind it still being summer, technically. I say "technically" because we have worked the races in perfect beach weather, in dreadful heat, in wind so bad that dust obscured the course, and four years ago, we flew the final race of the week, the Breitling Unlimited Gold Race, in fairly heavy snow. So that week is always a challenge.
Yes, I am still announcing airshows in spring and fall. Just do not think that I have turned my back on the business of airshows. Too much fun, too many friends, too many memories.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Happy Independence Day
Just a link to something which is timeless. The boss at GoDaddy.com is a former US Marine. Please click here, and watch this.
Friday, May 29, 2009
What kinds of Cars DO Americans want?
I tend to store things up, then get to the keyboard and rant. This is one of those times.
Earlier I was listening to the NPR station in Phoenix. The lady was repeating the oft asked question, "Why don't the American carmakers build cars Americans WANT?"
That's about the thousandth time I have heard that. The fact is, American carmakers seldom do more than react to what they see as a possible trend. When "Ahnold" was presented with the first HUMMER off the line, people with too much spare money wanted one. Then other folk wanted the same thing, but with a little styling. Thus was born the SUV rage. That was 1996. When gas prices went through the roof last year, NO one bought SUVs; they all demanded fuel-efficient smaller cars. Oh, that was until gas prices collapsed, and the small fuel-efficient cars were left wanting on the lot. The main reason SUV sales didn't shoot up was there wasn't much bank-owned money to lend to people.
Go back to 1972 and to 1979 when the Arabs reset the pumps. Both times, people whined that they needed more mileage out of their cars. Jimmy Carter (remember 13% inflation?) coined the term "gas-guzzler" and created a fine, although he called it a tax, for cars which didn't deliver - I can't remember - 16 miles per gallon? Is that close? Both times the industry began offering VERY small cars, many foreign-built and imported under a domestic nameplate. However the domestic manufacturers continued to make their muscle cars, hedging the bet that the fuel-efficient car market would be temporary both times. it was.
In 1979 I was working at a radio station in Boston, and we expressed a certain indignation that a gas station down in Charles Circle had the gall to charge a dollar a gallon. But if you think about it, every time, with the exception of summer of '08, when fuel prices have spiked, if they leveled at something reasonable, we got used to it and accepted it. Humorous sidebar: I had a Cadillac, and people accused me of driving a "gas-guzzler." So with 13,000 miles and 11 months on it, I traded for a smaller Pontiac something. The Cad gave me 19 mpg; the Pontiac gave me 17 mpg. But people stopped calling me names.
Manufacturers, in order to meet the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, imported more and more cars. My wife's ex-truck, a Mitsubishi, was imported as a Dodge Ram 50. The carmakers could continue to build the big ones as long as they met the CAFE mandate by selling enough of the little ones. That's called "eyewash"; as long as it looks good on paper....
So now the government is going to mandate a much higher average mileage. If the American public really wanted little cars, we would be awash in Smart4Twos. That, as far as the American public stands, is a true novelty. The Prius, which in its fifth year last summer was such a hot item, could be found in rows on lots this past winter. "Gotta have a hybrid!" The US manufacturers answered the problem by bringing out its own versions of hybrids, including the VOLT, a plug-in car. Do you see the continuing trend? React; don't innovate.
My Mercedes 300D is 24 years old. It has been serviced regularly, had things replaced as needed [I have now spent more on maintenance than the car cost new] and driven carefully. I get 28 mpg. I own it. There are now diesel cars which are cleaner and get even better mileage than the hybrids. There are gasoline cars which get even better mileage than the hybrids.
In 1957 (for those of us who can remember 1957) the Chrysler Corporation unveiled its new car lines by saying, "Chrysler is three years ahead!" Remember that? Seeing the doldrums which were settling in in the auto industry, they threw out three years of design changes and mods and brought out the 1960 lines as 1957. Ahhh, yes. TAILFINS. Within two years GM was lousy with... TAILFINS. And lotsa chrome.
Personally I do not want a little lightweight car which I can plug in and get 40 miles on a charge. (Oh, THAT'S convenient.) I want a car I can get into and drive to the mountains up toward Flagstaff, or drive over to Vegas, or drive to the foot of Santa Monica Pier. If it requires hydrogen fuel cells, let's develop those. If a solar array on the roof of my car can help it, let's get going. If I could have a gas turbine which I could light off once on the freeway, one which would power electric motors for the front and rear axles [gas turbines are most efficient if operated at a constant vehicular speed and RPM], then why not?
This country has been based on the internal combustion engine forEVER. No amount of legislative demands is going to change that.
Earlier I was listening to the NPR station in Phoenix. The lady was repeating the oft asked question, "Why don't the American carmakers build cars Americans WANT?"
That's about the thousandth time I have heard that. The fact is, American carmakers seldom do more than react to what they see as a possible trend. When "Ahnold" was presented with the first HUMMER off the line, people with too much spare money wanted one. Then other folk wanted the same thing, but with a little styling. Thus was born the SUV rage. That was 1996. When gas prices went through the roof last year, NO one bought SUVs; they all demanded fuel-efficient smaller cars. Oh, that was until gas prices collapsed, and the small fuel-efficient cars were left wanting on the lot. The main reason SUV sales didn't shoot up was there wasn't much bank-owned money to lend to people.
Go back to 1972 and to 1979 when the Arabs reset the pumps. Both times, people whined that they needed more mileage out of their cars. Jimmy Carter (remember 13% inflation?) coined the term "gas-guzzler" and created a fine, although he called it a tax, for cars which didn't deliver - I can't remember - 16 miles per gallon? Is that close? Both times the industry began offering VERY small cars, many foreign-built and imported under a domestic nameplate. However the domestic manufacturers continued to make their muscle cars, hedging the bet that the fuel-efficient car market would be temporary both times. it was.
In 1979 I was working at a radio station in Boston, and we expressed a certain indignation that a gas station down in Charles Circle had the gall to charge a dollar a gallon. But if you think about it, every time, with the exception of summer of '08, when fuel prices have spiked, if they leveled at something reasonable, we got used to it and accepted it. Humorous sidebar: I had a Cadillac, and people accused me of driving a "gas-guzzler." So with 13,000 miles and 11 months on it, I traded for a smaller Pontiac something. The Cad gave me 19 mpg; the Pontiac gave me 17 mpg. But people stopped calling me names.
Manufacturers, in order to meet the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, imported more and more cars. My wife's ex-truck, a Mitsubishi, was imported as a Dodge Ram 50. The carmakers could continue to build the big ones as long as they met the CAFE mandate by selling enough of the little ones. That's called "eyewash"; as long as it looks good on paper....
So now the government is going to mandate a much higher average mileage. If the American public really wanted little cars, we would be awash in Smart4Twos. That, as far as the American public stands, is a true novelty. The Prius, which in its fifth year last summer was such a hot item, could be found in rows on lots this past winter. "Gotta have a hybrid!" The US manufacturers answered the problem by bringing out its own versions of hybrids, including the VOLT, a plug-in car. Do you see the continuing trend? React; don't innovate.
My Mercedes 300D is 24 years old. It has been serviced regularly, had things replaced as needed [I have now spent more on maintenance than the car cost new] and driven carefully. I get 28 mpg. I own it. There are now diesel cars which are cleaner and get even better mileage than the hybrids. There are gasoline cars which get even better mileage than the hybrids.
In 1957 (for those of us who can remember 1957) the Chrysler Corporation unveiled its new car lines by saying, "Chrysler is three years ahead!" Remember that? Seeing the doldrums which were settling in in the auto industry, they threw out three years of design changes and mods and brought out the 1960 lines as 1957. Ahhh, yes. TAILFINS. Within two years GM was lousy with... TAILFINS. And lotsa chrome.
Personally I do not want a little lightweight car which I can plug in and get 40 miles on a charge. (Oh, THAT'S convenient.) I want a car I can get into and drive to the mountains up toward Flagstaff, or drive over to Vegas, or drive to the foot of Santa Monica Pier. If it requires hydrogen fuel cells, let's develop those. If a solar array on the roof of my car can help it, let's get going. If I could have a gas turbine which I could light off once on the freeway, one which would power electric motors for the front and rear axles [gas turbines are most efficient if operated at a constant vehicular speed and RPM], then why not?
This country has been based on the internal combustion engine forEVER. No amount of legislative demands is going to change that.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Las Vegas in the News, AGAIN
Las Vegas is hurting. You knew that.
In an effort to get ANYONE new to come to Vegas, marketing had gone to an image of "Las Vegas is for everyone," meaning that as long as someone had a few bucks for fun, Las Vegas doesn't care if you are a hog farmer from Montana. Just come to Vegas, and bring money.
Someone smart decided that was the wrong approach, so now, they are going back to the "What Happens Here, Stays Here" thing. If you haven't seen the TV spot yet, watch for a "TV news reporter" walking along the edge of an abandoned swimming pool, saying no one is coming to Vegas, and you can have the place to yourself. When her "take" is complete, she rips off her TV reporter suit to reveal a swimsuit, as people who have been hiding all dash out to the tables, chairs and the pool. Vegas is still kinda "hip", and the spot seems to be saying "If we can convince the world that nobody comes here any more, then we (who know better) can have more of the place to ourselves."
For folks who would like to TRY las Vegas on for size, TravelZoo, one of my favorite newsletters, notes that The Palms (speaking of hip) has a special deal through June of $79 a night Sunday through Thursday including a $50 dining credit plus other goodies. This is not the lowest price in town, but if you want to see how "the other half" lives, this place is a killer. The Malloof brothers, owners of the Sacramento Kings, didn't want any beds that were too short for any of their basketball players. Just gives you an idea.
I recall observing, while staying across the street from the Palms at the Gold Coast for $25 a night, that I could be staying at the Palms for another couple hundred a night. It IS a beautiful place, and at the special price, it is well worht it. Even if you DON'T stay there, go to one of the bars and drink in the atmosphere. Even try the PLAYBOY Club.
In an effort to get ANYONE new to come to Vegas, marketing had gone to an image of "Las Vegas is for everyone," meaning that as long as someone had a few bucks for fun, Las Vegas doesn't care if you are a hog farmer from Montana. Just come to Vegas, and bring money.
Someone smart decided that was the wrong approach, so now, they are going back to the "What Happens Here, Stays Here" thing. If you haven't seen the TV spot yet, watch for a "TV news reporter" walking along the edge of an abandoned swimming pool, saying no one is coming to Vegas, and you can have the place to yourself. When her "take" is complete, she rips off her TV reporter suit to reveal a swimsuit, as people who have been hiding all dash out to the tables, chairs and the pool. Vegas is still kinda "hip", and the spot seems to be saying "If we can convince the world that nobody comes here any more, then we (who know better) can have more of the place to ourselves."
For folks who would like to TRY las Vegas on for size, TravelZoo, one of my favorite newsletters, notes that The Palms (speaking of hip) has a special deal through June of $79 a night Sunday through Thursday including a $50 dining credit plus other goodies. This is not the lowest price in town, but if you want to see how "the other half" lives, this place is a killer. The Malloof brothers, owners of the Sacramento Kings, didn't want any beds that were too short for any of their basketball players. Just gives you an idea.
I recall observing, while staying across the street from the Palms at the Gold Coast for $25 a night, that I could be staying at the Palms for another couple hundred a night. It IS a beautiful place, and at the special price, it is well worht it. Even if you DON'T stay there, go to one of the bars and drink in the atmosphere. Even try the PLAYBOY Club.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
So, why are we blaming the pigs?
"Swine Flu" is so misnamed. The H1M1 influenza is not the fault of pigs, nor do pigs carry it. You won't catch it from eating pork or bacon. It could have been as easily named "Bovine Flu", and people would avoid beef and milk.
A lot of years ago, maybe 20 or 25 years, there was developed a technique for preparing food for long term storage without refrigeration -- food which would otherwise spoil in a day without refrigeration. Beef, chicken, pork and dairy products among others could be rapidly heated to a very high temperature, but not "cooked" in the classic sense of the word, then vacuum sealed for later meal preparation. The unfortunate term given this process was "Irradiation."
At the time this term came to be, I was living in Massachusetts, where anything which included the word "radiation" was feared as being somehow related to nuclear reactions. When a nuclear power generating facility was proposed, then designed and built in Seabrook, New Hampshire, a very noisy group calling themselves "The Clamshell Alliance", whose apparent motto was "Our minds are already made up; don't try to confuse us with facts!" picketed every day for YEARS. At any opportunity one of their number would get onto television and say: "Newkewluhr power is no f**king good; we're gonna shut it down." When this group heard "irradiation" in terms of food, they went ballistic. Once again, "...don't try to confuse us...." I had eaten irradiated meat and milk in 1990; it was very tasty and I am still reasonably healthy.
In the early 80s, I caught what was called "Russian" flu. We blamed an entire country for the outbreak in terms which suggested that it was some kind of plot.
The H1M1 flu seems to have started in Mexico -- not the cleanest, healthiest place on earth. The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta says that the H1M1 flu is transmitted person to person or through an intermediary, such as by handling money, touching a door handle or knob, or pushing the push bar on a shopping cart. More directly, shaking hands can help transmit H1M1. These thing can help transmit ANY flu. So the doctors all suggest you wash your hands frequently and perhaps use an antiseptic spray or wash on your hands. And what do they suggest you take if you thing you are coming down with something? TAMIFLU! That's stuff you can buy over the counter.
Our resident loose cannon, Vice President Joe Biden, managed to scare a lot of people when he gave his opinion about the flu outbreak on NBC, saying he didn't want his family to fly or take a subway. (?) Remember sheets of plastic film and duct tape in 2005? Oh, right... then an airliner enroute to New York from Europe diverted to Boston because one of the passengers complained of "flu-like symptoms." If anyone is on an airliner for six hours, you will develop "flu-like symptoms."
Meanwhile people, even entire cruise lines, are avoiding Mexico in droves. This is "Cinco de Mayo" in Mexico which approximates our Fourth of July. Mexico City was called "a ghost town" by ABC News. There are reports of many deaths in Mexico, but upon further reading, one finds that many of these deaths have other root causes -- a bad traffic accident, for instance -- wherein one of the victims had earlier reported "flu-like symptoms".
So let's stop blaming the pigs. Wash your hands, use a sanitizer, and if you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose, and wash your hands again!
We as a people have become masters of creating irrational fears. We really do have to knock it off!
A lot of years ago, maybe 20 or 25 years, there was developed a technique for preparing food for long term storage without refrigeration -- food which would otherwise spoil in a day without refrigeration. Beef, chicken, pork and dairy products among others could be rapidly heated to a very high temperature, but not "cooked" in the classic sense of the word, then vacuum sealed for later meal preparation. The unfortunate term given this process was "Irradiation."
At the time this term came to be, I was living in Massachusetts, where anything which included the word "radiation" was feared as being somehow related to nuclear reactions. When a nuclear power generating facility was proposed, then designed and built in Seabrook, New Hampshire, a very noisy group calling themselves "The Clamshell Alliance", whose apparent motto was "Our minds are already made up; don't try to confuse us with facts!" picketed every day for YEARS. At any opportunity one of their number would get onto television and say: "Newkewluhr power is no f**king good; we're gonna shut it down." When this group heard "irradiation" in terms of food, they went ballistic. Once again, "...don't try to confuse us...." I had eaten irradiated meat and milk in 1990; it was very tasty and I am still reasonably healthy.
In the early 80s, I caught what was called "Russian" flu. We blamed an entire country for the outbreak in terms which suggested that it was some kind of plot.
The H1M1 flu seems to have started in Mexico -- not the cleanest, healthiest place on earth. The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta says that the H1M1 flu is transmitted person to person or through an intermediary, such as by handling money, touching a door handle or knob, or pushing the push bar on a shopping cart. More directly, shaking hands can help transmit H1M1. These thing can help transmit ANY flu. So the doctors all suggest you wash your hands frequently and perhaps use an antiseptic spray or wash on your hands. And what do they suggest you take if you thing you are coming down with something? TAMIFLU! That's stuff you can buy over the counter.
Our resident loose cannon, Vice President Joe Biden, managed to scare a lot of people when he gave his opinion about the flu outbreak on NBC, saying he didn't want his family to fly or take a subway. (?) Remember sheets of plastic film and duct tape in 2005? Oh, right... then an airliner enroute to New York from Europe diverted to Boston because one of the passengers complained of "flu-like symptoms." If anyone is on an airliner for six hours, you will develop "flu-like symptoms."
Meanwhile people, even entire cruise lines, are avoiding Mexico in droves. This is "Cinco de Mayo" in Mexico which approximates our Fourth of July. Mexico City was called "a ghost town" by ABC News. There are reports of many deaths in Mexico, but upon further reading, one finds that many of these deaths have other root causes -- a bad traffic accident, for instance -- wherein one of the victims had earlier reported "flu-like symptoms".
So let's stop blaming the pigs. Wash your hands, use a sanitizer, and if you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose, and wash your hands again!
We as a people have become masters of creating irrational fears. We really do have to knock it off!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Challenge Coins on a Budget. (REALLY?)
We have been fielding inquiries about challenge coins, and with the current cost of brass, we have been going deaf from the sound of peoples' jaws hitting the floor. The usual question is: "What do brass challenge coins cost?" That's like asking, "How long is a piece of wire?" The more appropriate questions to ask is: "I am not a close friend of Paris Hilton, so can you help me out with challenge coins on a budget?"
Challenge coins do not HAVE to be brass (which, yes, has become very costly.) My friend Dan Arakawa, with whom we do our majority of coin and pin business, suggests zinc alloy coins.
Zinc alloy is not aluminum; it does not make a namby-pamby "tink" sound when it hits a table. As a substitue for brass, instead of using the traditional spin-casting technique with cheap lead-based metal, Dan uses a super high-grade zinc alloy material in a rubber injection mold. This technique creates the same high quality look of traditional brass coins, but the cost is lower. The only difference is a barely perceptible difference in weight between a zinc and a brass coin.
And if you want a cutout inside your design, with the zinc coin they are free; with brass the charge for a cutout is $40.
Included in pricing are two-dimensional molds for both sides, a high polish or antique finish, and FREE artwork from your sketches. (If you have artwork already, Dan is happy to create the coin from that.)
500 of the 1 1/2" diameter coins at 3 mm thickness (about an eighth of an inch) are $2.86 each (plus tax and shipping, of course.) You can add up to four inlay colors for an additional 20 cents per coin per side. Again, interior holes are free.
Challenge coins do not HAVE to be brass (which, yes, has become very costly.) My friend Dan Arakawa, with whom we do our majority of coin and pin business, suggests zinc alloy coins.
And if you want a cutout inside your design, with the zinc coin they are free; with brass the charge for a cutout is $40.
500 of the 1 1/2" diameter coins at 3 mm thickness (about an eighth of an inch) are $2.86 each (plus tax and shipping, of course.) You can add up to four inlay colors for an additional 20 cents per coin per side. Again, interior holes are free.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Car Rental - REAL TIME
Saving Money - LOTS of Fun
I am one who enjoys saving a buck or so. Just checking my reservation for plane and car at BWI in May, and I thought, "$322.89 seems like a lot of jack for a Chevy Aveo for five days." This, from Alamo from whom I have rented cars for a long time, and with whom I have some kind of discount through an affinity deal.So I punched into CarRentals.com and entered my dates. The website came up with a LONG list of car rental outfits, including DOLLAR, which has a deal where you get to the lot and pick out the car you want, mid-size or larger. The same dates with free mileage costs $157.89. Hmmmm.
Same dates, probably the same distances, a larger car (I hope) and for half the price! SOLD!
Wherever you are going, for business or pleasure, REALLY check CarRentals.com before you make a decision.
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