The day after Christmas dawned clear, bright, cold and dead calm in Southern California - perfect conditions for flying RC models. So it was opportune that my fellow PSF club member, Arnold Coggshall, had invited me to join him for a morning of "flying with the big boys" at the Valley Flyers site in the Sepulveda Basin. He brought his beautiful nitro Spitfire and gas Edge 540 to add to an impressive array of models of all types and sizes. Much to our surprise, we discovered our own Jerry Lake there, as well. I hope you enjoy the photos in the gallery!

When I think of landmark 20th Century theater, the works of Arthur Miller, Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams come immediately to mind. Their work is simply timeless and has attracted some of the finest actors of the time to create extraordinary performances that generations of theater-goers hold in fond memory. So it was with great anticipation that my family and I returned to the Mark Taper Forum Saturday night to see the latest LA production of Williams' "The Glass Menagerie". Put simply, it was a magical night.

I've been fiddling around with microcontrollers for years and have built a number of useful projects based upon them. So, since I recently returned to radio-controlled modeling, it seemed only natural that I'd eventually dream up a project to bring these two interests together. That project is a data logger to record electric power during flight. Now, commercial data loggers are readily available for this purpose, but what's the fun in just buying one when I can design and build my own?

About a year and a half ago, my brother gave me a 3D profile electric plane for my birthday. Made by Hyperion for extreme 3D aerobatics, it was a lot of fun and got me back into RC modeling after many years away. However, after subsequently building and flying my UK Aerobat, I was unhappy with the Hyperion's lack of stiffness. So, I retained the original symmetrical wing and tail feathers, junked the flat plate fuselage, and designed & built a new one. The result I call Hyperion II and I'm very pleased with it!

What I like best about fine dramatic theater, like that invariably found at the Mark Taper Forum, is it's ability to challenge our most fundamental assumptions about our world. I was not disappointed by this evenings production of "Palestine, New Mexico", the latest vision from that iconoclastic theatrical powerhouse known as Culture Clash. Their third premiere production at MTF since 2003, "Palestine" perfectly concludes one of the most compelling seasons there in recent memory.

The title, itself, hints at an intersection of cultures, histories and beliefs that, on the surface, seem worlds apart. But as the play unfolds, we are gradually drawn to realize the powerful threads common to all human experience.

A few months ago, I was looking for plans for a small electric aerobatic plane and stumbled upon Flymodels.co.uk. There, a Brit by the name of Philip Rawson described a speed 400 electric aerobat he'd designed that looked and sounded like just the ticket. He provides a PDF version of plans for download and a series of photos and description for some of the construction details, but other than that, you're on your own. Construction looked straightforward enough, so I decided to give it a try. If you're not reasonably comfortable with scratch-building techniques and meager instructions, I suggest perhaps trying something else first. However, this is a fun build for someone with at least some experience.

Building

I grew up in the mid '70s exploring the rocky outcropping in the west San Fernando Valley known as Stoney Point. Back then, a talented climber by the name of John Bachar was already turning heads and inspiring awe there. Although I knew him only from a distance, he quickly became a role model for me and a generation of young climbers who were finding our way into adulthood as much as we were finding our way up rocks. On the surface, John was impressive from the beginning. On the rock, he had a style like no other and physical strength that often seemed super-human. On more than one occasion, I found myself scratching my head after watching him scale some absolutely blank boulder, trying to work out how he so effortlessly achieved what I'd just witnessed.

Today, a friend of mine sent me this commencement address. It was delivered May 3rd, 2009 at the University of Portland by Paul Hawken. Upon reading it, I was compelled to share it with others. Enjoy.

University of Portland, May 3rd, 2009

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was "direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful." Boy, no pressure there.

But let's begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation - but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement.

Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

The Mark Taper Forum in Downtown LA is known for it's ground-breaking theatrical productions. It's the primary reason my family has been season ticket holders for many years. So it was with delight that we experienced the Taper's production of Lydia this past Saturday night. Set in El Paso, Texas in the 1970's, Lydia is the complex story of an immigrant family wrestling with shifting societal realities around them and secrets long buried within. Written by Octavio Solis and first produced in Denver in 2008, I believe this is the play's first production in Los Angeles, with much of the original cast intact. It is, in all respects, a gripping piece of work.