The Mother of all Swimming Pools

June 14, 2017June 14, 2017 Markozen.com Geography, Offbeat

Years ago I was a swimming pool attendant. Great job, sun, sweet smell of chlorine, bikinis and I got to operate an underwater vacuum cleaner. Ever since then I have had a thing for swimming pools. And this one really caught my eye.

Already drawing the crowds in the South American resort of San Alfonso del Mar in Chile, this artificial lagoon and swimming pool is eight hectares in size and contains an incredible 250,000 cubic meters of water. Acknowledged by Guinness World Records as being the world’s largest swimming pool, the lagoon trounces all other record holders in the category, including the Orthlieb pool in Casablanca, Morocco, itself a huge 150 meters by 100 meters – the San Alfonso pool is 1km in length. The revolutionary clear water artificial lagoons, transparent to a depth of 35 meters and unprecedented in design and construction methods, are the brainchild of Crystal Lagoons founder, biochemist and Chilean businessman Fernando Fischmann. Equivalent in size to an incredible 6,000 standard domestic pools, details of its technology have yet to be disclosed.

Contrast that blue lagoon with this little rooftop pool in New York City.

Could Dennis Rodman’s Trip to North Korea be Sly by Trump

June 13, 2017 Markozen.com Espionage

Dennis Rodman, the former NBA bad boy who has palled around with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, began sightseeing in Pyongyang on Wednesday during a trip he said he hoped will “open a door” for his former “Celebrity Apprentice” boss — U.S. President Donald Trump.
Rodman, one of the few people to know both of the nuclear-armed leaders, sported dark sunglasses and athletic wear as he left his hotel in a black limo Wednesday morning without comment. He is scheduled for sightseeing events and a meeting with North Korea’s sports minister before he leaves the country on Saturday.

Surely Dennis will be meeting with his short and plump buddy Kim Jong Un.

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He was met by North Korean Vice Minister of Sports Son Kwang Ho at the airport, saying then, “I’m just here to see some friends and have a good time.”
It was a relatively low-ley arrival after his four past trips since 2013 generated a lot of publicity — most of it unfavorable — and did little in terms of diplomacy. His current visit has already been roundly criticized by some for its timing, during high tensions between the U.S. and North Korea over its weapons programs and recent missile launches.
“Well, I’m pretty sure he’s pretty much happy with the fact that I’m over here trying to accomplish something that we both need,” Rodman said in Beijing when asked if Trump was aware of the trip.
In Tokyo, a visiting senior U.S. official said Rodman is making the trip as a private citizen.
“We are aware of his visit. We wish him well, but we have issued travel warnings to Americans and suggested they not travel to North Korea for their own safety,” U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon told reporters after discussing the North Korean missile threat and other issues with Japanese counterparts.
In 2014, Rodman arranged a basketball game with other former NBA players and North Koreans and regaled leader Kim with a rendition of “Happy Birthday.” On the same trip, he suggested an American missionary was at fault for his own imprisonment in North Korea, remarks for which he later apologized.
Americans are regarded as enemies in North Korea because the two countries never signed a peace treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. Thousands of U.S. troops are based in South Korea, and the Demilitarized Zone between the North and South is one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world.
A statement issued in New York by a Rodman publicist said the former NBA player is in the rare position of being friends with the leaders of both North Korea and the United States. Rodman was a cast member on two seasons of Trump’s TV reality show “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Rodman tweeted that his trip was being sponsored by Potcoin, one of a growing number of cybercurrencies used to buy and sell marijuana in state-regulated markets.
There is an internet urban legend that North Korea is a pothead paradise and maybe even the next Amsterdam of pot tourism. But the claim that marijuana is legal in North Korea is not true — it’s considered a controlled substance in the same category as cocaine and heroin.
Americans have been sentenced to years in North Korean prisons for seemingly minor offenses and likely could not expect leniency if the country’s drug laws were violated.

Beyond promoting Potcoin, could Dennis be on a more sinister mission. Something schemed up by Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer or Donald Trump himself? Something that will put this festering North Korea problem to bed once and for all. An assassination mission to take out the little bastard Kim Jong Un!

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The Zipper Traffic Merge

June 13, 2017 Markozen.com Transportation

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In traffic engineering, the late merge or zipper method is a convention for merging traffic into a reduced number of lanes. Drivers in merging lanes are expected to use both lanes to advance to the lane reduction point and merge at that location, alternating turns.
The late merge method contrasts with the early merge method. A related scheme is the dynamic late merge.
The late merge method has not been found to increase throughput (throughput is the number of vehicles that pass through a point in a given period of time). However, it considerably reduces queue (“backup”) length (because drivers use the ending lane until its end) and reduces speed differences between the two lanes, increasing safety.
Governments hold campaigns to promote the late merge method because irritation, aggression and feelings of insecurity easily occur while “zipping”. Often drivers who change lanes too early do not like to see other drivers continue until the end of the drop-away lane, even though this late merging is encouraged by the authorities.

I watched this today and it didn’t work the way it should. Most drivers in the through lane would not late the vehicles in the ending lane in. No alternating turns here. People are just too impatient.

Construction season in Winnipeg

Midtown Bridge getting a face-lift

The Zipper point

The guy in the light colored pickup had a hard time getting someone to let him in.

Why does driving turn some people into complete wingnuts?

Psychic Medium Didn’t see this coming

June 13, 2017 Markozen.com Paranormal

Clearly anticipating the obvious question concerning the accident and his psychic abilities, Blair Robertson joked to the Arizona Republic that “I didn’t foresee it happening.”

It’s remarkable that Robertson could laugh about the event, considering the dramatic nature of the car crash which occurred in late May.

As he and a friend were having lunch at a restaurant in Ontario, a car suddenly came smashing through the window next to them and sent Robertson soaring through the air.

The Arizona resident wound up wedged between the car and a wall, suffering serious leg injuries as well as a number of other aches and pains from the ordeal.

Ironically, the friend that Robertson was dining with is also a psychic and he, too, did not have any premonition about the crash.

So while the pair of prognosticators may be scratching their heads over why their sixth sense gave no indication of the impending accident, at least they can rest easy knowing that Robertson’s sense of humor is still rather sharp.

Two Central Parks

June 13, 2017June 13, 2017 Markozen.com Cities

Central Park is a public park at the center of Manhattan in New York City. The park initially opened in 1857, on 778 acres (315 ha) of city-owned land (it is 840 acres today).

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Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada also has a Central Park. Comparing Winnipeg’s park to the park in New York is like comparing a shot glass to a beer keg. The park in Winnipeg is maybe 4-5 acres. But in its own right it is charming. There is a crime problem near the park. It is not recommended to walk near the park after dark.

The area is bound by Notre Dame Ave. to the north, Ellice Ave. to the south, Donald St. to the east and Balmoral St. to the west. Everything within the neighbourhood’s one-kilometre loop can be reached within eight minutes on foot. It’s one of Winnipeg’s most densely populated neighbourhoods with around 13,755 people per square km according to Statistics Canada’s 2001 Census.

Central Park is home to many different ethnicities including Vietnamese, Arabs, Chinese, First Nations, Filipinos, with a majority from Africa. Because of the growing African population, the area has been transforming in recent years, giving it a new sense of community and culture. Its Central Market for Global Families is a summer outdoor market that sells handmade and imported African clothing, beadwork, handicrafts, weavings, art, as well as organic produce [including some African/tropical greens raised by local residents on a community garden at University of Manitoba].

UFO Seeking Cubesat Satellite

June 12, 2017 Markozen.com Paranormal, Space

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The first satellite for UFO research is being planned and intended to search low-Earth orbit for any sign of unidentified objects. Dave Shock, the project coordinator of CubeSat For Disclosure says the shoebox-sized device will contain two cameras, “one pointing down and one pointing up.” He believes that the crowd-funded project has a good chance to photograph anomalous objects in space, as well as measure any fluctuations in magnetic fields or radiation readings with other instruments on board. It is scheduled to launched in early 2018 into a polar orbit at 193 miles above the planet. The satellite will be aloft for approximately three months until the orbit decays and it burns up in the atmosphere.

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Ionized radiation: we have a scintillation counter, that enables us to measure the various radiation in our satellites environment. This is significant as it enables us to detect high energy particles, radiation, and other phenomenon.

Cameras: we will use two cameras with parabolic lenses, giving us a clear 360 degree view around our satellite.

Our instruments will allow us to scientifically verify visual anomalies with correlated radiation. This adds to the burden of proof required for extra-ordinary claims.

Got to give these guys an A+ for effort and creativity. Good luck!

Melania Trump and son Barron move into the White House

June 12, 2017 Markozen.com Politics

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The first family is together again under the same roof: the White House.

After nearly five months of living apart, President Trump’s wife, Melania, announced Sunday that she and the couple’s young son have finally moved into the executive mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Mother and son broke with tradition by living at Trump Tower in New York since the inauguration so that Barron, now 11, could finish the school year uninterrupted; the president lived and worked at the White House.

The president spent the weekend at his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J., and had said on several occasions that his wife and son would move to the White House after the school year. Trump celebrates his 71st birthday on Wednesday and got his gift a few days early.

Melania Trump said last month that Barron will attend a private school in Maryland in the fall, an announcement that answered one of the lingering questions surrounding the Trump family’s unusual living arrangement. It also pointed toward a coming move to the White House.

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Donald always has such an upbeat expression on his face.

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Shrek, The Sheep Who Escaped Shearing for 6 Years

June 12, 2017 Markozen.com Animals, Offbeat

Shrek was a Merino sheep, a castrated male, belonging to South Island, New Zealand, who gained international fame in 2004 owing to his gigantic coat of fleece. Shrek became famous after escaping his enclosure and evading the shearers for six years by hiding in caves. Merino sheep are usually shorn annually but Shrek managed to escape the blade for six years straight. When he was finally caught, the sheep was unrecognizable. “He looked like some biblical creature,” said John Perriam, Shrek’s owner.

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Primitive sheep shed most of their wool every year, but domestic breed like the Merino – the ones raised primarily for their meat, continues to grow wool year round until sheared. During his cave-living days, Shrek grew a fleece weighing 27 kg, roughly six times the average fleece produced by a Merino sheep. His fleece contained enough wool to make suits for 20 large men.

Shrek shot to fame immediately. He was sheared live on New Zealand’s national television, and his fleece was auctioned off to raise money for children’s medical charities. Shrek met the then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, and became the subject of children’s books and made charity appearances. Two and a half years after the first live television event, Shrek underwent another live shearing, this time on an iceberg floating off the coast of Dunedin, New Zealand.

Shrek died in 2011 at the age of sixteen.

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Star Wars Nothing But Star Wars

June 11, 2017 Markozen.com Movies

Just add air – Inflatable Sex Doll Ads from the 1970’s

June 11, 2017June 11, 2017 Markozen.com Offbeat

Let’s imagine it’s 1973. I have my bachelor pad, my 28” color TV, swivel chair, hi-fi stereo gear, fondue set and my corduroy bellbottoms. I live in a Space Age world. I have everything I ever wanted. But somehow I feel empty. I feel I’ve mortgaged my happiness on things I don’t really need. I have a lifestyle but no life. There’s something missing. I’m lonely. I’m missing that certain someone special to share all this luxury with.

But relationships are messy. They’re downright difficult. And I don’t know if I’m ready to commit, you know what I mean? I really need someone who is always ready to please, always ready for me and what I want. When I want it. But where can I find such a person? Do they even exist?

I flick thru the latest issue of Man’s World where I find an ad for a life-size inflatable doll…

Just add air…Life-like in every detail…Snuggle up to your own Love Maid.

Eight dollars ninety-five. It all seems too good to be true. But I know nothing about “Love Maids.” I know nothing about inflatable love dolls…but maybe I might know a man who does. Bryan Ferry. He sang about inflatable dolls. He’s the man to ask. Maybe I should call him up?

Bryan, I live in this perfect world, all mod cons, everything I need, but why, why do I have this utter sense of loneliness?

Bryan (for it is he….): In every dream home a heartache… And every step I take. Takes me from heaven.

What do you mean by “heaven,” Bryan?

Bryan: The perfect companion. Deluxe and delightful.

You seem to know a lot about this, brah. Way too much…

Looking for a playmate? Well, here I am. I’m Lori, the latest, wildest, party-time sensation and I’m ready for action…

Bryan: Inflatable doll. Disposable darling… My breath is inside you… I dress you up daily. I blew up your body… But you blew my mind.

Ew. Too much information, man…

The earliest sex doll is credited to Dutch sailors in the 17th century, who used a dame de voyage—a masturbatory doll made of cloth for relieving sexual stress on long voyages. In 1908, the first recorded “manufactured” sex doll made its appearance in psychiatrist Iwan Bloch‘s The Sexual Life of Our Time. Bloch described this doll as “Vaucansons” intended for fornicatory purposes. These were made from:

…rubber and other plastic materials, prepare entire male or female bodies, which, as hommes or dames de voyage, subserve fornicatory purposes. More especially are the genital organs represented in a manner true to nature. Even the secretion of Bartholin’s glans is imitated, by means of a “pneumatic tube” filled with oil. Similarly, by means of fluid and suitable apparatus, the ejaculation of the semen is imitated. Such artificial human beings are actually offered for sale in the catalogue of certain manufacturers of “Parisian rubber articles.”

During the Second World War, it was long rumored but never actually proven that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler ordered sex dolls to be supplied to German troops fighting on the front line. The real change in sex dolls took place in the 1960s with the development of the vinyl inflatable doll with realistic “openings.” These became very popular in the 1970s, as can be seen by the following selection of bizarre adverts.