bookofjoe

Shave your eyebrows or go home

Casey Parks reported in the April 28, 2008 Oregonian that students at Centennial High School in Portland, Oregon who shaved vertical lines into their eyebrows have been banned from school until they shave them off completely.

Here's the story.

Teens shaving lines in eyebrows raise gang concerns in schools

Students are told to fill in or buzz off shaved eyebrows

Andy Gonzalez was studying for a science test at Centennial High School when a school security guard told him to go home.

It was his eyebrows, the security guard said. Gonzalez, a Cuban American junior in stylishly baggy clothes, had shaved a vertical line down the center of each eyebrow. They look like a gang symbol, the security guard said, adding, "If you're going to come to school like that, don't come at all."

But Gonzalez, 17, isn't in a gang, he says, and only shaved the lines to look cool. Like other teens across the metro area, he's sporting the latest fashion trend, spotted from Cleveland to Reynolds high schools, particularly among Latino and African American students.

At Centennial, however, administrators are telling students who shave the lines that they can't return to school until they take care of the problem — by shaving their eyebrows off. Four students have been sent home — one came back immediately with a bandage covering the shaved brow. The others are still out of school.

Assistant Principal Mark Porterfield said the students are not suspended, but they are not allowed in school until they cooperate.

"We just saw a little of it and reacted to it," Porterfield said. "Just like if a student had gang-related clothing, we want to keep that out of the schools."

Rappers from Vanilla Ice to this year's reigning hip-hop champ, Soulja Boy [top], have sported shaved brows. But police say gangs have co-opted the trend for their own use. In this case, Gresham police say members of Southside 13, a prominent Latino gang in east Multnomah County, are marking themselves by shaving one line into an eyebrow and three lines in the other to symbolize 13.

"We don't dictate policy for any schools," said Officer David Schmidt of the East Multnomah County Gang Enforcement Team. "We just tell them what we see the latest trends are. This is a way for them to identify each other. In a school setting, it intimidates other kids."

Porterfield said Centennial implemented the rule after other area high schools, including Gresham, did.

Gresham High officials said their policy is slightly different. They only look for the 13 style and would not send students home for having different shavings. If students did shave the symbols into their eyebrows, Gresham administrators say, they would ask them to fill in the marks with an eyebrow pencil.

Administrators at other schools — including Reynolds High and Grant High — say they have not had any problems with students shaving gang symbols into their eyebrows.

Centennial's policy does not specifically outlaw shaved eyebrows but does say administrators can change policy when advised by law enforcement.

If Gonzalez wants to return to school — "Of course I do," he said — he'll have to do something decidedly uncute: Shave the rest of his eyebrows off.

"But I don't want to do that," he says. "I'd be humiliated."

Students say they are getting different, confusing signals about what is allowed and when they can return. They also say officials have not announced to students the rule or the sanctions for violating it.

Assistant principal Porterfield told junior Jasiel Carmona that he could return if he colored his eyebrows in with makeup, but a security guard told him that wasn't good enough. He'd have to shave them off.

David Fidanque, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, said schools are required to have clear rules.

"Most school districts have general rules that prohibit gang behavior and attire," he said. "What may be viewed as gang behavior can change quickly. There is some leeway, but it can be very tricky because the rules do have to be clear. If a student is going to be suspended or expelled, they need to know what the rule is before they're punished for violating them."

Shaved eyebrows aren't the only fashion trend used as gang symbols, Schmidt said. Across the metro area, teens wear price tags and size stickers on their hats. Schmidt says some use the hat sizes to signify their gang status.

But not everyone who wears the tags is in a gang, Schmidt says. Because gang symbols and general fashion can closely resemble each other, Schmidt says, the police look for specific factors.

"Never just one thing identifies a gang member," Schmidt says. "We don't walk up to kids and say, 'Hey your eyebrow is carved, we're going to mark you as a gang member.' We go by a combination of things. Otherwise, you could have a kid who is wearing blue and maybe just likes blue and doesn't associate it with a gang."

Back at Centennial, Gonzalez is still out of school. He says shaving his eyebrows was a natural progression from the patterns he used to shave in his hair.

The lines he shaved above his eyes were meant to impress, not intimidate.

"It's just for the ladies," Gonzalez said. "They think it looks cute."

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"... the students are not suspended, but they are not allowed in school until they cooperate."

A rose by any other name....

Belkin Mouse Trap — Eliminate the 'long tail'

Very nicely done.

"Soft, flexible, non-slip colorful mouse pad with snap zips up to store your mouse, cables, pens, USB drive, flash chips, and other small desk items you might want to keep handy."

Four color combinations (top down): Dove/Peony; Dove/Tarragon; Chocolate/Tourmaline; Steel/Burnt Orange.

$8.79

Limited Edition R2-D2 DVD Projector with Millenium Falcon Remote

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff just sent me a link to the video above, calling it the "greatest 'Star Wars' product ever!"

I won't disagree.

$2,995.

Magnetic BBQ Utensil Light

Think outside the grilling space.

From the website:

Magnetic BBQ Utensil Light

Shines brightly on your cooking

Attaches instantly to most barbecue tools to shed light on your grilling experience.

Features three bright LED lights and a full range-of-motion swiveling head.

Zinc alloy, steel, chrome, nylon; magnet.

Requires three batteries (included).

2" x 3/4".

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Am I the only one who thinks this device bears a remarkable resemblance to a deer whistle?

$14.98 (grilling utensil pictured not included).

TollFreeForwarding.com

Long story short: You buy a toll-free or local phone number in one of the many countries in which the company operates, then when people there call the number, it rings on your own phone — anywhere in the world.

Pretty amazing.

[via Ray Earhart]

Poop Freeze — 'Just frost and toss!'

Catchy, what?

I like it.

From websites:

Poop Freeze™

Transform poop patrol duties.

Poop Freeze is a specially formulated aerosol freeze spray that forms a frosty film on dog, cat or bird poop and instantly hardens the surface for easy pickup.

Just shake and spray — in seconds, poop is ready for removal and disposal.

Fast, clean, earth-friendly (will not harm grass or gardens) and easy!

Non-flammable and CFC free.

Indoor/outdoor use.

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$9.95.

Juan Manuel Lozano of Cuernavaca, Mexico is the Rocketeer

For $125,000 he will sell you one of his four ready-to-fly rocket belts (above and below).

From his website:

Rocket Belt

TAM [Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana] is the only company in the world that produces a complete turnkey flying rocket belt, custom-made for the pilot’s weight and body size (up to 300 lbs/136 kg). We use the most advanced technology and aerospace materials.

Included:

• A fully-tested, custom-made flying rocket belt, proven to have the most stable design and be easiest to fly

• Flight training including 10 flights in your own rocket belt

• Hands-on training with procedures and equipment

• Housing and food during training

• Setup and maintenance training

• 24/7 expert support

....................

The only downside is that flight time is limited to 30 seconds.

But when you consider it was only 21 seconds back in the 60s, you can see that things are mos def moving in the right direction.

Adam Thomson profiled Lozano in the April 27, 2008 Financial Times; the piece follows.

James Bond rocket belt? Suits you, for $125,000

Nueva Polonia is much like any other middle-class street in Cuernavaca, a town about an hour from Mexico City. High painted walls hide peaceful gardens, traffic is almost non-existent and the only sounds are birdsong and distant barking.

Until, that is, the calm is broken by the occasional roar of jet engines being tested by one resident, Juan Manuel Lozano. The inventor has been occupied for the past 30 years in designing, building and trying to sell rocket belts such as the one worn by James Bond in the 1965 film, Thunderball.

“My neighbours are convinced that I am crazy but at least they have got used to the noise,” says the 53-year-old Mr Lozano.

Tecnología Aeroespacial Mexicana, as Mr Lozano’s company is called, is the result of an obsession he developed in 1964 when he was eight years old. His parents took him to an air show where the main attraction was a rocket belt.

“I saw it and loved it,” he recalls. “I said to myself: ‘One day I’m going to make one of those.’”

Other children seeing the spectacle may have had the same thought. But Mr Lozano persevered. Now fully versed in engineering, physics and chemistry — “I taught myself everything I needed to know” — Mr Lozano is on the payroll of several international companies helping to design rocket engines and related technologies.

One project is to help design and build a 27,000 horsepower rocket engine as part of a British attempt to break the land speed record. Another involves work on an international project to make gas generators for putting out fires, and a third is a machine that adapts his rocket technology to improve production levels on oil rigs.

But rocket belts are his overriding passion, and the area in which he is determined to succeed as a businessman — in spite of having yet to sell one of his creations. Today, four of his belts are propped up on specially made stands in his cluttered office-cum-workshop. Each is a slightly different size but all have the same characteristic fuel tanks, ceramic-insulated thrusters to launch the pilot, the catalyst pack, where the rocket belt’s 900 horsepower is generated and hand controls for manoeuvring once in the air. And for $125,000 (€80,000) (£63,000), one of them could be yours.

TAM is not the world’s only manufacturer of rocket belts but Mr Lozano claims it is the only one to provide a full package for customers. This includes intensive tuition, lifetime technical support and a machine to make the pure hydrogen-peroxide fuel the rocket belt requires.



Mr Lozano has invested an estimated $500,000 into the project from his savings. He says the main hurdle has been the lack of significant change in the associated technology during the almost half-century since the first flight, which was inspired by the US military.

Mr Lozano says the laws of physics make it impossible to increase flight times significantly because heavier fuel loads require bigger engines to lift them and bigger engines require even bigger fuel loads, and so on.

As a result, even with lighter materials, Mr Lozano has managed to extend flight times to only 30 seconds compared with 21 seconds back in the 1960s.

For many businessmen, that would be enough to put them off. But Mr Lozano remains convinced that his machines have a lucrative future.

His idea is to establish a fleet and sell flights to organisers of sporting events as a crowd-puller. He points out that at least two similar companies are doing shows in the US, one of which he has been working with for some time. “You can charge $25,000 a flight,” he says. “It’s a great business.”

The first step is to raise the required capital, which he estimates at $2m, to make more machines and train pilots.

So where is he going to get the money? Mr Lozano walks to his driveway and opens the door of a small trailer to reveal two more of his inventions.

One of them is a 1,000 horsepower rocket bicycle, which he has been testing on the street outside his house. The other is a menacing-looking 4,400 horsepower rocket motorcycle, which he says does the quarter mile in less than five seconds. If things go to plan, the motorcycle will soon carry sponsorship from a large Mexican company.

That, together with other projects he is working on, should provide enough capital to see his rocket-belt business through, he says.

'Skull With Cigarette' — by Chris Jordan

Above, it's part of his photographic series entitled "Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait."

Based on Vincent van Gogh's 1885 painting "Skull with a Burning Cigarette" (below),

Jordan's piece measures 98" x 72".

He used 20,000 cigarette packs to create the work pictured up top (and below

in

more

detail).

David Sedaris writes about how and why he quit smoking in an essay which appears in the current issue (May 5, 2008) of the New Yorker.

[via streetanatomy.com and Direct Infections]