Friday Newsletter: March 23, 2012.

Now March is almost over and there are still so many things I have to do that I thought I would have already done this year.

But it is Friday so time to take some time off and see what has been happening in the world.

Today many of the stories have an aviation theme. There is a cabin crew member whose PA announcement was so odd she had to be removed from the flight, NASA teaming up with Angry Birds and an amazing low military flypast .

“If the plane crashes then don’t blame me.”

I am always amazed at how many passengers make a habit of ignoring the safety briefing whenever they fly.

Maybe it is because they hear the same message from the cabin crew every single flight and just learn to tune it out.

But on flight AA2332 from Dallas Forth Worth (DFW) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) one of the flight attendants had the full attention of all those around her as the plane prepared for departure.

The flight attendant apparently grabbed the plane’s public address system and told the passengers there were technical difficulties with the plane while it was still on the ground at Dallas.

She then said it could not take off because there was not enough ice on board and a little later she said she would not be responsible if the plane crashed.

Her words, not unsurprisingly, caused general alarm and as she became more and more agitated it took five people – crew members and passengers – to restrain her while the plane returned to the gate so she could get medical attention.

The plane eventually departed one hour and 21 minutes late with a new crew on board.

DFW to ORD flight route. Pic: FlightAware.Com

Have you joined the space race with Angry Birds and NASA?

Come on admit it, you have played Angry Birds by now I guess?

But have you discovered Angry Birds in space yet?

The new game was launched yesterday after game maker Rovio teamed up with NASA.

When I first heard that NASA and Angry Birds had joined forces I thought it must have been some kind of joke but it is true.

In fact this is what NASA say on their own website:

“Angry Birds Space has provided NASA an opportunity to share a core concept of space exploration: gravity.

“Not only does gravity play a vital role in the game but, in general, gravity is a force that governs motion throughout the universe.

“It holds us to the ground, and it keeps the moon in orbit around Earth and Earth around the sun. The nature of gravity was first described by Sir Isaac Newton more than 300 years ago.

“Now three centuries later and more than 200 miles above our home planet on the International Space Station, astronaut Don Pettit shares the thrill of concepts like gravity and trajectories with some help from Red Bird.”

At just 5 meters above the runway is this the most dramatic flypast ever?

The Swedish Air force Pilot who carried out this unauthorized fly past at just five meters above the runway was suspended for carrying out the stunt.

Investigators said there was no margin for error in the Hercules C-130 flypast which he did for a “bit of fun.”

Check it out for yourself:

Video: YouTube.com/siemenstraffic

Now UK  government minister wants to stop people wearing a crucifix to work

It seems that with each passing day the UK government turns itself more and more into the country’s religious police…or at least the country’s anti-religious police as far as Christians are concerned.

The latest person to weigh in with her views is Liberal Democrat Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone who has ordered Government lawyers to oppose the right of Christian workers to wear a cross at work.

She wants the lawyers to call on European human rights judges to dismiss the claims of Christian workers who have been banned from displaying the symbol of their faith at work.

This is despite the fact that the government’s own Equality and Human Rights Commission says that workers should be allowed to display a token of their religious faith at work.

And now for a quick commercial break…

Relax. Don’t worry. I am not trying to sell you anything…however I do want you to look at a commercial.

This particular commercial lasts for three minutes and 31 seconds and I found it utterly captivating.

The advert is for L’Odyssée de Cartier who say this about it:

“Discover the new Cartier film, a journey between dream and reality.
For the very first time, Cartier has decided to create a cinema epic focusing on its history, its values and inspiration, its artistic and universal scope.”

I was trying to find a way to express my views on it and then I saw this comment on its YouTube channel:

“This is one of the most fantastic advertisements I have ever seen. The visuals are absolutely stunning; the plot, well crafted. The reveal of the product is done with remarkable precision, and manages to keep the audience on the edge of their seat until the inevitable end- one which is looked upon with regret rather than relief.

It is rare that you find an advertisement so brilliantly made…”

I agree with all of the above.

Take a look for yourself and see what I mean:

©YouTube/L’Odyssée de Cartier

It’s snooze time as BBC news anchor ‘takes a nap’ at his desk.

BBC Breakfast News presenter Simon McCoy says he was not snoozing at his desk during a live bulletin.

However the evidence does not look all that good.

I mean in this picture he is hardly poised and ready for action:

It certainly looks like he was caught napping to me but newsman Simon explained it on Twitter as follows:

‘It was a long desk head-banging that wasn’t meant to be picked up in the BBC1 opt!!’

I am not quite sure what that means but the BBC simply said the journalist was “caught unawares” during the live broadcast.

And finally…

When William Miller from Surf Skeleton sent me a mug in the post I thought I would record the opening of the box in the style of those tech blog unboxing videos which I enjoy so much.

Claim my special CTP badge.

Now you can claim this badge for reading the weekly Friday Newsletter:

Just log into CTP and enter the badge code.

There will be a new code for you on next week’s post.

Have a good weekend and God bless.

Tagged as: Friday Newsletter