Bursting High-Speed Photography by Alan Sailer

These amazing high speed photographs are the work of Alan Sailer, who is based in California, USA.

A normal photographic flash unit gives a flash that lasts around a thousandth of a second (a millisecond). However Alan's flash unit is much faster than this, and produces a flash of light around a microsecond (a millionth of a second). This allows him to freeze things that are happening extremely fast, and to give us a view of something that otherwise we would never see.

Check out the below gallery for a sample of these breathtaking images of exploding strawberries, glass ornaments, paintballs, tomatoes, crayons, walnuts and grapes.

Alan used an air rifle, a Nikon D40 camera and a homemade one-microsecond flash unit that cost around $300. For context, a typical camera flash is one-thousandth of a second, compared to the one-millionth of a second of this special flash unit.


























See more of Alan Sailer's work on his Flickr page.

Nicholas de Jongh and his Standard departure

It is tragic news that Nicholas de Jongh, theatre critic of the little-read regional newspaper, the London Evening Standard for 17 years, is leaving the paper to spend more time with the film script of his John Gielgud cottaging cock-pulling stage play Plague Over England (see my incomparable review of the play via labels, you idle glancing bitches).

I must have imagined that Geordie Grieg or is it Grieg? (who knows or cares?), doomed and über-pompous editor of same (he loves his über), had generously offered to cut his fee prior to this announcement. De Jongh was most gracious about über-Grieg/Greig, alluding to his courtier quality inherited from a relative who grovelled before a king a long time ago and beyond first-hand memory. Amazing what passes down via the DNA and is then edged with the gilt of eugenics puffery, even if light-heartedly.

The Standard has now lost Brian Sewell, its arts editor and others of seniority and talent. I do hope film critic Derek Malcolm is safe. It doesn't pay to have talent or longevity at the Daily Über right now.

craveable spri/summ outfit

Miss Doutzen Kroes in Vogue Latin March 09 via fetesexy

Heels much like the Jessica Simpson ones I discovered one day in Nordstrom and that we all have seen on Karla....so freakin delishh.

Not to mention that chain-strapped romper.

Dreamy.

xxMolls

Red Bull Flugtag 2009

Red Bull makes full use of its "Red Bull gives you wings" slogan by hosting this year's Flugtag in London's Hyde Park.

Anyone wondering what a Flugtag is should refer to the famous Bognor Birdman event. If you're still in the dark, it's basically about man's eternal battle with gravity, coupled with an extraordinary willingness to look stupid.

Forty teams take part and spectators can see the daredevil pilots "flying" their man-powered craft from a 20-foot high ramp over/into the murky waters below.

The celebrity panel judge entries based on flight distance, creativity of the machine and the pre-flight performance, plus the crowd clap-o-meter.




























Red Bull Flugtag Website