MetaFilter posts tagged with Armstrong

The Automata Art of Steve Armstrong

twoleftfeet — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:22:23 -0800

The Automata Art of Steve Armstrong. Part I, Part II, Part III.

The high cost of riding around in brightly-colored underwear

ardgedee — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:25:36 -0800

Why is (Radio) Shack -- a company that only markets to North Americans -- spending $20 million sponsoring Lance Armstrong and his team as he spends a year racing bicycles mostly in Europe? "Somewhere, someone has a Venn diagram showing the crossover between electronics geeks and cyclists. I’m sure those two sets have a lot of crossover." There are only twenty available slots for UCI ProTour teams, the creme de la creme of bike racing -- eighteen were filled in the 2009, leaving two openings and only room for more if an existing team decides against renewing, is disqualified or disbands. (Radio) Shack's signing Armstrong is certain to ensure that publicity reaches beyond the fairly narrow market of American pro cycling enthusiasts, but whether that connotes positive publicity for the sponsor, or remains focused around Armstrong, is yet to be seen -- certainly the oligarchs of Kazakhistan didn't find their profiles improved among the American public while they supported Armstrong's previous team, Team Astana. Also interesting to note are the debuts of Team Sky (as in the Murdoch-owned Sky Satellite TV) and Skil-Shimano (as in chain saws and fishing reels), which put in a surprisingly high profile performance as a wildcard team in this year's Tour de France.

Neil Armstrong: One Badass Mother Fucker.

cmchap — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:22:07 -0800

Neil Armstrong was a test pilot before he was an astronaut. He had his pilot's license before he had his driver's license. But even he had some trouble getting used to that darned Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). While testing the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), Neil Armstrong was a second and a half from death, and just walked away. Actually, the guy in that video isn't Neil. That was Deke Slayton, because apparently NASA didn't care if he got maimed while testing the first prototype. No. The Neil Armstrong crashes better, faster, and with MORE FIRE! (Reenactment in "From the Earth To the Moon) Fear not, though, for Neil safely landed the LLRV a few weeks later for the media. Upon liftoff of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong was a little surprised. When it came time to land on the Moon, just over a year after crashing the LLRV, The LEM's guidance system started giving unforeseen errors. Armstrong ignored the errors, realized that they'd overshot their target landing spot, took matters into his own hands, and found a better, non-bouldered area on which to land. With 24 seconds of fuel left, he landed the Eagle on the surface of the moon so softly that the shock absorbers didn't compress (#6), making his one small step a much larger step than anticipated.

Bikes as art as bikes as art as etc

ardgedee — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 08:01:29 -0800

The bike racing world has a tradition of attention-getting designs, but some spectators at this year's Tours of California or France might have done double-takes at some of the art on Lance Armstrong's rides. As it turns out, Trek and Nike have commissioned custom designs promoting Livestrong, and as I write this Lance is cycling into Paris on a bike covered with butterfly wings, courtesy of Damien Hirst. Along with the Hirst piece, TdF fans have been able to see Armstrong riding art by Shepard Fairey, Yoshitomo Nara, and Mark Newson. If you happen to be in Paris, you can attend the Stages (warning: Autoplay Flash video/audio) exhibition, which opened on the 17th and features some of the bikes and commissioned art by Ed Ruscha, Raymond Pettibon, Andreas Gursky, and more. After the show's over, the bikes will be auctioned off with proceeds benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Trees of green & red

growabrain — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:00:46 -0800

Happy Thanksgiving to all. (YT. Click on bottom corner for full screen)

The Illustrated Guide to GOP Scandals

trinarian — Mon, 14 May 2007 04:16:41 -0800

The Illustrated Guide to GOP Scandals

Why does Rice play Texas?

NotMyselfRightNow — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 00:15:36 -0800

“That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” [Audio] On 21 July 1969, four days after taking off from Cape Canaveral, and six and a half hours after landing Apollo 11 on the Sea of Tranquility, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on the moon.

Without a doubt, the moon landing is one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind. For those who were alive thirty-seven years ago, the sight of Armstrong’s “small step” is one of the most iconic images of their lifetime.

The Eyes Have It

Scoo — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 11:49:51 -0800

An Eye for Annai is a terrific little animation, suitable for all ages. (QuickTime).

Blake — Fri, 26 Jul 2002 08:03:32 -0800

Great feat, but not a great athlete. Let the Cyclist bashing continue.
As a follow up to the pointless Bicycles and cars don't mix column, Ron Borges over at MSNBC wonders if Lance Armstrong is even an athlete.
He says Athletes must do more with their bodies than pump their legs up and down. For his money, being the greatest athlete in the world involves strength, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, mental toughness and the ability to make your body do things that defy description. Anyone who has ever been in a bike race (Road or MTN) knows it does indeed take all that and more. Anyone who writes about sports, rather than participating, would of course have no clue it takes more than moving your feet up and down.