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KELLY SLATER DISCUSSES ‘LONG-TERM SLUMP’

If he doesn’t place first this year, it will be the longest World Title losing streak of his career since he started the ‘CT. Keep in mind, that means the lengthiest period with Kelly as a fulltime competitor – he went seven years without a World Title (1998-2005), but that chapter featured a three-year sabbatical (1999-2001).

More than any surfer ever, Slater’s career has been marked by decades of dominance; but the last few years have seen a slow decline in performance from Kelly. Not since 2011 has he hoisted the oversized, world title silver chalice above his head and proclaimed victory as overall points leader. And the last time he won a ‘CT event was in 2013 at the Pipe Masters.

After his loss at Bells, Slater spoke to ESPN about his faltering performance: “I see myself in kind of a long-term slump right now,” he said. “I really thrived under pressure for a lot of years and now I’m not enjoying that as much.”

In recent years, Kelly’s focus has been undoubtedly more scattered. Whereas previously the Tour and cashing oversized checks were his main priorities, he now has a clothing line, a surfboard brand, an energy drink company and the latest and greatest development, a manmade wave.

But the question remains – Can King Kelly rise again? Should he just retire already? Disappear on some exotic white sand beach, take up building model airplanes and adopt a bevy of stray cats?

Maybe not

Article source: http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/after-a-slow-start-to-the-2016-season-could-the-kings-reign-be-coming-to-an-end-kelly-slater-talks-retirement_137050/

Next Gen Actors at Sundance: 10 Festival Breakouts

The Anaheim native broke out as the lobby boy in Oscar nominee The Grand Budapest Hotel. At Sundance, he’s promoting Umrika and Dope; he also recently shot the YA adaptation The Fifth Wave with Chloe Grace Moretz.

Most memorable moment: “Probably the last day I was there. We wrapped at one o’clock, and I immediately got in my car and moved to New York to shoot another film [The Fifth Wave]. It was kinda strange to end the film process in that way.”

Most “Hollywood” moment: “It keeps getting updated, but right now my most Hollywood moment was the Berlinale with Grand Budapest Hotel. That was my first time, and it was incredible.”

Most memorable audition: “This is an embarrassing one, but I’ll give it to you. My parents to this day remember what happened. It was for an Eminem video, ‘Just Lose It.’ They asked all the kids, ‘What do you want for Christmas?’ Walking down the line, each kid would say a PlayStation, Xbox. Then they got to me. I don’t know what demon possessed me to say, ‘I want hair on my back.’ I was maybe 8? And I hadn’t actually heard any of his music then, but I got the part.”

Industry role model: “I love Dustin Hoffman. I think he’s a fantastic actor and I appreciate what he’s done with his career. Same with Oscar Isaac. I’d love to have a career similar to his. But my favorite actor, without a doubt,

Article source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/next-gen-actors-at-sundance-878986

Artist combines history, detail in aviation paintings

Before Robert Aikins puts brush to canvas, the Farmington Hills artist opens his history books.

“It’s research. I’m sitting in my studio and looking at books, a couple of hundred aviation books,” said Aikins, whose detailed aircraft paintings resemble photographs.

“Aviation art is a specialty-type thing. People who like aviation art, they want details. Are you telling the right story? Are you showing it (the airplane) in the right part of the world?”

When he was chief designer for Ford Motor Company, Aikins made sure images showed vehicles as sellable and in the best possible light. Now 16 years into retirement, Aikins strives for realism in his aviation paintings.

“When you’re doing aviation art, you’re trying to represent something that appeared in history,” he said, adding that a dirty or weathered-looking airplane may be acceptable in a scene. “People are more interested in authenticity.”

Aikins is flying high these days as an artist with some 200 oil paintings focused on airplanes, both in the sky and on the runway.

His work will be on exhibit during Farmington Hills’ Festival of the Arts, 10 a.m.-9

Article source: http://www.hometownlife.com/story/entertainment/arts/2016/03/29/artist-combines-history-detail-aviation-paintings/82400126/

Pilot taken to hospital after small plane crashes

The pilot of a single-passenger airplane that crashed in eastern Nebraska has been taken to a hospital for his injuries.

[Video: Pilot taken to hospital after small plane crashes]

Officials with the Cass County Sheriff’s Department say authorities received a report of an airplane with engine trouble Sunday night. The plane later crashed in a field south of Louisville.

“The engine started to sound like it was cutting in and out,” said Aaron Stewart, who witnessed the crash. “Just didn’t sound very healthy. We lost him because of the trees, couldn’t see him anymore. But then it went silent and we heard a thud.”

Stewart and his father-in-law rushed to the wreckage.

The pilot, 44-year-old Eric Stadjuhar, was flying the plane out of the Millard Airport in Omaha. He was trapped inside the aircraft after the crash and had to be cut free.

“Frankly, when we pulled up on the plane, it didn’t really look the best, so when we saw him move that was a relief,” Stewart said.

[See photos of the crash]

A helicopter transported Stadjuhar to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Hospital officials said Stadjuhar was in fair condition Monday.

The crash is under investigation.

In 2012, the National Transportation Safety Board conducted a study that showed amateur-built aircraft were consistently in about twice as many accidents as professionally built plans.

“It’s not risk-free,” experimental plane builder Bob Cartwright said.

But those rates are improving, dropping 20 percent from 2014 to 2015.

“The

Article source: http://www.ketv.com/news/plane-crashes-sunday-night-in-louisville-field/38730694

Drone use for Columbus businesses to soar after FAA releases commercial-friendly rules

Pending FAA regulations for commercial use of drones leave businesses waiting with drones on the ground, ready to start checking on insurance claims, saving lives and entertaining the eye.

At the Ohio State University airport, drones are being defaced as they are flown right into the powerful suction of a jet engine. But, this is no accident—and right now, they are being defaced by virtual jet engines done through computations, not physical experiments. These tests are part of crucial research to learn all the consequences of drones before an unstoppable surge in their usage.

Columbus companies are preparing to pounce on opportunities drones can bring to business as they await Part 107, the implementation of the Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed provisions for commercial use of drones—known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles—this spring.

The new regulations will open a door of opportunity for the majority of US companies for which jumping through hoops to get a Section 333 FAA exemption for commercial drone use was too costly in time, skill and money. The biggest change Part 107 proposes is that commercial users will be able to operate drones without a pilot’s license—though some form of test will be required.

Currently, the Section 333 exemption has allowed nine Columbus businesses to operate drones commercially and legally—as well as four other businesses in central Ohio. In total, there are 91 businesses in Ohio currently operating drones under the exemption. For the rest of Ohio’s and Columbus’s drone-desiring companies, like Nationwide, research is

Article source: http://www.columbusceo.com/content/stories/2016/04/drone-use-for-columbus-businesses-to-soar-after-faa-releases-commercial-friendly-rules.html

Dietary changes shaped the evolutionary paths of pro humans – Sterling Heights Latest

Australopithecus sediba did not have the jaw and tooth structure required for a diet of hard foods. Most of australopiths were having adaptations in their jaws, teeth and faces that allowed them to process foods that were difficult to chew.

A. sediba was not predisposed to chewing hard foods, even if it did consume them, and may have eaten softer foods that weren’t as hard to chew than tree bark or nuts

The researchers believe A. sediba didn’t share the same nutcracker jaw feature as its ancestors, due to its natural inability to crack hard foods. This also suggests that the species was a transitional one in between human ancestors, coming after A. africanus and most likely before Homo habilis or H. erectus.

“Most australopiths had amazing adaptations in their jaws, teeth and faces that allowed them to process foods that were difficult to chew or crack open,” said study lead David Strait of WUSTL in a press statement. “Among other things, they were able to efficiently bite down on foods with very high forces.”

Strait’s team used an A. sediba skull discovered in South Africa in 2008 and put it to an extensive series of tests and modeling simulations, similar to the tests car and airplane parts go through during their manufacture. According to the test results, A. sediba was not predisposed to chewing hard foods, even if it did consume them, and may have eaten softer foods that weren’t as hard to chew than tree bark or nuts.

The new study rejected

Article source: http://www.albanydailystar.com/health/dietary-changes-shaped-the-evolutionary-paths-of-pro-humans-sterling-heights-latest-16246.html

Over 1000 drone sightings were reported last year. Have we passed peak ‘drone hysteria’?

Last August, a drone was spotted flying over a gas station in Inglewood, a city just south of downtown Los Angeles. The drone was operated by the Inglewood Police Department to gather aerial data over a crime scene, a practice not uncommon lately with law enforcement or emergency response crews.

In a bizarre turn of events, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department also were dispatched to the scene, but not to assist with the crime investigation. According to a report released by the Federal Aviation Administration, LAPD arrived on the scene and requested their Inglewood counterparts to bring down the drone, which was flying about 2 miles from a runway at the Los Angeles International Airport and could have posed a threat to incoming planes.

The FAA in November of 2014 began tracking “drone sightings,” in which a person or entity reports a drone in flight to the police or directly to the FAA, usually because they believe the drone is doing something illegal. Since then, the number of drone sightings has been on the rise. The FAA received reports of 1,303 drone sightings in 2015.

A. sediba was not predisposed to chewing hard foods, even if it did consume them, and may have eaten softer foods that weren’t as hard to chew than tree bark or nuts

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