China seems to be kicking everyone’s ass these days. On the same day it’s being reported that the People’s Republic has taken over Japan as the , a Chinese company has revealed a vehicle that promises to revolutionize public transit: a giant bus that straddles traffic! Called a “three-dimensional fast bus”, the outlandish vehicle is being described as a “mobile tunnel.” According to :
Commuters board from a station one story above the ground, and when the straddling bus parks to pick up riders—as many as 1200 per vehicle—it doesn’t disrupt the flow of traffic. …
The innovating company, , claims that building the infrastructure for straddling buses is three times faster and much cheaper than a comparable distance of new subways. The wheel-rail-hybrid buses are powered by municipal electricity and solar energy, thus reducing the cost of their operation as well as fuel consumption. They will purportedly reduce traffic jams by 25 percent. There’s even motion-sensing alarm system built into the bus to prevent oversize vehicles from passing through the bus and to warn cars if they swerve too close to the bus’ wheels.
And this ain’t no pipe dream/TED talk fantasy: construction on a 115-mile long line in Beijing’s Mentougou District is scheduled to begin by the end of the year.
Assuming the company’s impressive claims are true, consider me a fan. Innovations that use existing infrastructure (i.e. roads) seem to have the best shot at succeeding, and of course any new technology that reduces traffic and fuel consumption is cool beans. Hopefully they’ll introduce this on the West Coast before long (this would be perfect for the ).
Yesterday, Kanye released his newest single, “See Me Now” featuring Mrs. Jay-Z and Charlie Wilson, the man who provided cash and Stinger missiles to the Afghan Mujahideen founded the . Kanye’s raps cover the usual ground: equating himself to the font of Western philosophy (“I’m Socrates/But my skin more chocolate-y”) and Jesus (“This the Christ year/Last year was magic, 32″ … “Imagine the direction of this immaculate conception”). The beat is a buoyant vocal sample that keeps things moving along, and Beyonce does a decent job on the hook. Charlie Wilson, meanwhile, spends the song’s last minute and a half wailing his ass off and sprinting up and down scales like this is 1998 and his name is . Anyway, if you want to give the track a shot, visit Kanye’s blog: .
Kanye also made news recently by joining the Twitter and his tweets must surely rank among the funnest ever*. Seriously, dude is a comedic genius.
Here are some gems:
“Is it to early for a bellini??? Too late, already ordered”
“It is Monday right???”
And the best one:
“Tell everyone at the label only use Gothic or Helvetic fonts for email blast unless I otherwise approve”
Of course, it would have been criminal to let Kanye’s hilarity disappear beneath Twitter’s daily avalanche of mundanity, so someone equally as funny preserved his tweets, and generated an awesome if short-lived meme, by turning them into . Here’s the .
*I found the grammar and spelling errors in this sentence improved it dramatically, so I left them in.
. This t-shirt from Urban Outfitters made me laugh pretty damn hard. I remember the days when people used to say this sort of message about someone and a) actually mean it and b) the person actually deserved it.
You can’t fault Mos Def for kickin it on Yo Gabba Gabba! This show has managed to lock down some pretty major artists (including the Roots). Mos plays a superhero in this that has to go calm down a monster. It’s equal parts cute and awesome.
This makes me extremely happy: , of Parks and Recreation fame, is releasing a mixtape under his alter ego, Raaaaaaaandy (who also happens to be the character he played in ). Produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, the mixtape was supposed to be released in February, but that date has reportedly been pushed back.
In the meantime, the first track has been leaked and it’s awesome/hilarious. It’s called AAAAAAAANGRY, and it’s a diss track aimed at all the emcees who didn’t deliver verses for the song. Check it out:
While we don’t normally offer a lot of architecture coverage, this story seemed too good/bizarre to pass up: the firm Fitzsimmons Architects recently posted photos of new Oklahoma City home. Coyne, who is the frontman of ‘’ band , is a strange and , and his new house certainly embodies those characteristics. According to , while the house “looks like a simple brick house from the outside,” … it “turns pretty phantasmagorical once you get inside.”
Indeed, as you’ll see in the photos, the house is anything but typical. Each room seems to follow a separate theme or idea, varying in their decor and use of space. The study is sparse and dominated by a massive, industrial-looking ceiling fan. The bedroom is centered by a fireplace that descends from the ceiling, and the bathroom’s curved adobe walls evoke pad on Tatooine.
In addition to sporting events, this year’s will feature a large and surprisingly diverse schedule of free concerts. Being held at two ‘’ venues in downtown Vancouver, the concerts will span the length of the games and represent an excellent opportunity to take in high quality music for zero dollars. Here’s a sampling of some of the performers who will take the stage:
(!)
Not bad at all. I plan on seeing several of these shows, if not all of them. And here’s the (PDF).
It’s nice to see and the attempt to expand the impact of the Games beyond simply a few sporting events. As the LiveCity site notes,
“Over the years, Olympic Games Host Cities have come to recognize that the overall Olympic and Paralympic experience and celebration must include many activities and opportunities that attract, entertain, engage, inform and excite people of all ages throughout the Games period.”
Despite Vancouverites’ past ambivalence and, occasionally, outright , to these Games, Olympic excitement is beginning to envelope the city as the opening ceremonies draw closer. Hopefully it’s an indication of the experience to come.
You know that we here at 4080 are pretty big fans of TED Talks. Not only are they good for dropping some knowledge on you, sometimes they come up with great entertainment too.
Check out the video below to see Herbie Hancock give a solid performance.
This isn’t nearly as snarky as that headline comes off. This guy is actually pretty talented. He does impressions of LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, DMX, and Jay-Z.
Just a little something to distract you for a few minutes.
Here he is doing it on a radio show. A little bit different, but still entertaining.
. This t-shirt from Urban Outfitters made me laugh pretty damn hard. I remember the days when people used to say this sort of message about someone and a) actually mean it and b) the person actually deserved it.
