New York City based Aerial Theatre troupe Suspended Cirque announces their return to Brooklyn’s Galapagos Art Space with their newest show, URBANOPOLIS.

My wife Michelle Dortignac and her four über-talented collaborators (Joshua Dean, Ben Franklin, Angela Jones, and Kristin Olness) have done it again!

Actually, I should say that they WILL be doing it again for three upcoming shows at the Galapagos Art Space on August 14, 15, and 16.

Their all-new performance entitled URBANOPOLIS, is inspired by the dramatic and unique qualities of the Galapagos Art Space — the audience sits on several large steel islands, surrounded by water on almost all sides.

The performance takes place above, around, below, among the audience — no part of the performance space is left unexplored, and the audience is an integral part of the entertainment. The show’s format of short performance sections divided by mini-intermissions allows the audience to mingle and explore the unique water-filled theater space.

Visit the Suspended Cirque Website for more information, bios, images, and news.

Suspended Cirque is:
Joshua Dean, Ben Franklin, Michelle Dortignac, Kristin Olness, and Angela Jones.

Special guest Leenya Rideout; and as always, DJ Uri Attia

An online press release can be seen here:
URBANOPOLIS: Aerialists Spark an Evolution of Cirque in New Show at Galapagos Art Space

No, it’s not a new Eddie Izzard sketch, Manhattanhenge is semi-annual occurrence where sun sets exactly parallel to Manhattan’s east-west streets. The term was coined in 2002 by Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History.

Manhattanhenge sunsets usually occur on May 28 and July 12. Manhattanhenge sunrise falls approximately on December 5 and January 8. The reason there are two dates for each, is that the east-west streets of Manhattan’s grid layout are offset 28.9 degrees from true east-west; as such, the sun passes this point as it approaches and recedes from the true equinox points. The reason for the 28.9 degree tilt of the streets is that while the streets are perpendicular to the spine of Manhattan, the tall and narrow shape of Manhattan is tilted to the east by 28.9 degrees.

More here, here and here.

Albert Hofmann has recently passed away, but there’s a new type of trip ready for the taking–it’s a flavor trip!

As reported in today’s NY Times, there’s a new way to taste life a bit differently than you’ve ever done before. A cranberry-sized West African berry called the miracle fruit, numbs your sour and bitter taste buds for a few hours after eating it; the result is that everything that used to taste sour now tastes sweet!

A group called Flavor Tripping arranges small parties in NYC and San Francisco, where the miracle fruit is served, followed by an array of sour and bitter foods. According to their website: after eating one [miracle fruit bean], stout beers taste like chocolate milkshakes, grapefruits taste like pixie sticks, cheeses taste like frosting, it will make even the crappiest tequila taste like lemonade (and strangely enough, it will make all wine taste like Manischewitz).

Visit their website if you’d like to sign-up for the miracle fruit parties.

I happen to love maps. So of course, I love my new Google Maps Plugin for Wordpress.

You like maps too?

Awesome US, World & State Wall Maps:
Raven Maps & Images

And you like on-line weather maps too?

Giant National Radar Composite (it’s huge!):
National Mosaic Enhanced Radar Image

Do you know of any other great map resources? Do tell; leave a comment!

Fight Identity Theft at Shred Fest NYC!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

11 convenient locations Citywide

Start collecting those personal documents you no longer need—but that identity thieves love to steal from your trash—and shred them, for free, at the City’s first-ever Shred Fest!

Fifty paper shredders will be given away free, donated by Staples.

Fight back against identity theft: Just Shred It!

(Thanks Mel!)

(*Dollar amount in millions)

Details here.

The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary
Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically (in slipcase with reading glass).

500,000 words, 290,000 main entries, 137,000 pronunciations, 249,300 etymologies, 577,000 cross-references, and over 2,412,000 illustrative quotations in one book. Weighs in at 15.3 pounds.

A direct photoreduction of the entire 20-volume set, with nine pages of the original on every nine-by-twelve inch page.

Painstakingly written by an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters.

Published by Oxford University Press, USA. Available here.

(via cooltools)

Instead of emailing my friends and family each time I see something interesting out here on the Internet, I figured I should just make a blog.

I’ll have pictures to look at, links to interesting and useful things, answers to life’s easier questions, and news about what’s going on for Michelle and me.

It’s nice to meet you.