The latest hilarity just popped up on my computer screen. A "huge' brouhaha due to the Columbian Women's cycling team choosing to cycle "HALF NAKED"!! And bottomless, no less! OMG. A particularly nice quote  "unacceptable by any standards of decency". Some media outlets applied some heavy handed censorship to shield tender eyes:

Whew! All the nasty, naked, naughty bits covered up. 
But ...
There are no naked naughty bits in the first place. At least on display. For here's a pic of what they're going on about:

And just in case it's not clear enough, here's an illustrated guide to "totally clothed women""

In "A" I've helpfully outlined what is known in the profession as "the uniform". It's what the athletes "wear". It's identical in form and size to the "uniforms" that every other women's cycling team wears and roughly identical to those the guys wear as well.

"B" helpfully points out the front part of what's called the "chamois" or "cushion". It's the soft, cushy pad that lets you ride for hundreds of miles without having the saddle wear a hole through your nether regions. There's even a matching piece on the back since the actual piece of foam/felt looks kind of like a peanut.

And finally, "C" is pointing toward what we artists refer to as "a shadow". It's what happens when light is blocked off. You can even see some of these "shadows" on other parts of these women. Their arms, their knee caps, gosh ... they're all over.

So then. It seems that the only sin these women are guilty of is having a central portion of their uniform colored something vaguely skin colored (although a look at their legs shows a pretty large mismatch that should be a clue it's not "skin"), thereby driving the imaginations of some observers wild, and being shaped like, well, women. Who are wearing cycling uniforms. 

And that's all there wheely is to it.

Distain not mediocrity. No one ever bemoaned being caught in a merely mediocre sandstorm.

Always playing with the art. On today's menu, thinking about using a fountain pen for the inking. So here is a sheet of smooth finish Bristol board with some images done using two different pens (and inks). One of the pens stands out to me as allowing me to create a superior line. How about you?

When life gives you lemons, grab life by the throat and do this:

This is nuts. The Mark 6 GTI is the world's biggest iPhone case. Here's my iPhone, running Waze navigation app, placed in between the tach and speedo. You can't be sure from the pic but believe me when I say the fit is PERFECT. Just a slight press fit. Supported on the sides and bottom/top. I drove around in the twisties and it's rock solid. The ideal place for a Nav display. Amazing. 

In today's installment of Pho Fax, we look back at Sir Isaac Newton. The inventor of calculus, dynamics, optics, and the salad spinner, he was also the Master of the Mint and Fellow of the Royal Society. Quite an accomplished guy. But what few know is that in spite of, or perhaps because of his deep involvement in mathematics, he had some curious quirks.

One of these was his avoidance of the number 7. He had a superstitious dread of the number and refrained from using it in any of his calculations, something that, as you might well surmise, usually complicated his analyses to no small degree. 

Later in his life, thanks to years of therapy supplied by his good friend and mentor Robert Hooke, he grew better able to control this phobia and was able to regard the number as the innocent servant of mathematics that it is. Sadly, however, he could never bring himself to utter its name and referred to it up until his death as 6 Plus.

Finally saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier. On Blu-ray, of course :-)
Worth the wait! Cap was always high up on my list and Chris Evans brings him to life so very well. 

Sitting on the fancy press machine and noticed for the umpteenth time that the weights had a patent number. Not only that, but a pretty recent patent, way up in the 5 million range. And it was finally enough for me to ask myself, what is there that's patentable about a weight? Here's a pic of the culprit:

So what did I do? Found the patent, of course! And here's the first page:

1992 so not super new. And look what it was that got the patent for them. A couple of holes in the plate.  Anything else? Nope, not really. Just two holes to make holding it easier. 

There used to be metal in those places but now, due to this patent, there's nothing. So there you go, a patent for nothing!

Big announcement from Apple yesterday, as all the world knows. A large part involved the beautiful new look of the sexily curved shape. But I can't help observing that if you're going to put this phone in a case, what do the curves, or lack of curves, matter? And whether it's a bit lighter or a bit heavier, if it's going in a case, then so what? Certainly for me, if I were considering this new latest and greatest, it's not much of a big deal. Closer to no deal at all, in fact.

Keep it in mind, folks:

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

Helen Keller