Tango Echo

Clean Water For All

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:16:34 +0000

If you own a pitcher-style water filter like a Brita, you know how it goes: you fill the pitcher with water, wait for it to filter and then pour it into a cup. Which is fine but… what if you’re on the go? Does anybody really want to be the only weirdo on the bus with a pitcher of clean water? What Jay Parekh and Aakash Mathur have done is eliminated the middle man and built that filter right into the cup; and they’re calling it Hydros Bottle. They might not be the first to do it, but they’re the first to do it this way: designed for mass-market appeal, featuring a sleek, ergonomic bottle made from Tritan™, the same material used in Nalgene bottles, and a sophisticated filter that quickly removes chlorine, chloramines, and particulates. Right now, the bottle is only safe for those with access to potable tap water that’s been treated by a municipal center, but Jay and Aakash, COO and CEO of Hydros Bottle, respectively, envision its scalable, proprietary filtration technology becoming advanced enough to someday filter water in developing countries. Their idea is to eventually produce filters targeted to combat each country’s own specific water pollutants. If that sounds ambitious, it is – and they know it. “This filtration platform will develop as technology develops,” explained Jay. “Right now, it’s just about having more convenient and better-tasting water.” So basically, this isn’t a bottle you’d take along on an expedition to Mt. Everest or Mexico City. It’s a bottle you’d take along when you go shopping, to the gym or to a game — anywhere you’d normally take or purchase a bottle of water — because hey, we have a water crisis of our own right here in the United States. According to a recent study by the Pacific Institute, it took 17 million barrels of oil to produce the amount of water bottles consumed by Americans in 2006. Even more ridiculous, it took three liters of water to produce every one liter of bottled water. Considering that Americans reportedly bought a total of 31.2 billion liters of bottled water in 2006, that’s a lot of water we’re wasting: a sad irony when millions of people in other countries have little or no access to water that’s safe for consumption and, according to the EPA, over 90 percent of water systems in the U.S. meet its standards for tap water quality. Enter Hydros Bottle. By partnering with all-local manufacturers, Jay and Aakash are producing Hydros Bottle sustainably, with environmentally friendly materials: the bottle is BPA-free and resistant to chemicals and heat. It’s designed to be reused indefinitely, improving the taste of tap water and providing a better, more cost-effective alternative to water bottles made from petroleum and other chemicals that are potentially unsafe for reuse and require a significant amount of energy to recycle. The idea for Hydros Bottle originated at the University of Pennsylvania, where Jay studied engineering and Aakash attended the Wharton School of Business. They both knew the makers of the proprietary filter technology that’s now used in the bottles as all three were employees of a local material-science company. Those developers put the two in touch. “We had a technology and we had a need,” said Jay. “Hydros Bottle is the bridge between the two.” Jay and Aakash began work on a business plan – Aakash for a course, Jay for an entry in the Dell Social Innovation Competition, in which he was a semi-finalist – and realized, once it was written, that they wanted to take it to the next step: off the paper and into the hands of consumers. “We basically thought, ‘If we’re enjoying it, why not do it full time?’” said Aakash, who formerly had plans to go into consulting. “Being [this kind of] an entrepreneur means you get to do things where every day you’re contributing to a greater vision.” What began as a business plan in May of 2009 is now an actualized product, expected to be delivered to its first customers in February 2010. Already, more than 1000 preorders have rolled in, and the only marketing the guys have done so far is establish a website, "www.hydrosbottle.com,":http://www.hydrosbottle.com set up a Facebook and a Twitter page. But even that seems a bit much, because, “We’re aiming to be very transparent and establish an evangelistic consumer base that will promote the product itself,” said Jay. “In that case, we won’t need advertising.” One aspect of Hydros Bottle is likely to help facilitate its spread: $1 from every bottle sold will help fund a water-infrastructure project in Gundom, Cameroon and provide 2,000 gallons of water to a community in need. Dubbed “Operation Hydros,” this project collaborates with Penn’s chapter of Engineers without Borders (EWB), an NGO committed to leading sustainable engineering projects worldwide. Aakash and Jay, a former member of EWB who has been involved with development projects in both Cameroon and Honduras, chose the organization because “…all the money goes directly to buying supplies in Cameroon. They’re purchased on the ground there, so there are no overhead costs and everything goes to the project.” Both guys have plans to visit Cameroon in the future and praise the EWB for its direct involvement in helping solve the global water crisis. Its members work in partnership with communities to help carry out projects and ensure community members are able to build and maintain those projects on their own. “We don’t want to be a company that just writes checks; we want to be involved in the solution,” Aakash said. The solution offered with this particular EWB project is to help the rural agrarian community of Gundom, one of the poorest in the mountainous Bome Valley region of Cameroon, build a spring-water distribution system that will deliver fresh water to each household via a storage tank and connecting channels. The Gundom community, in partnership with EWB, will construct this system entirely from locally sourced materials. Currently, Gundom residents use water from creeks for drinking and cooking during the rainy season – the same creeks they use to bathe in and wash their livestock. In the dry season, women and children often have to walk more than 30 minutes to find a water source. Jay and Aakash plan to continue to partner with a charitable cause as long as they produce Hydros Bottle, though they’re committed to causes that they say can help “…bring light to the [global water] crisis,” because “…there’s no (PRODUCT) RED for water.” Hydros Bottle isn’t available for purchase in any stores yet. If you’re interested, check out the website, "www.hydrosbottle.com,":http://www.hydrosbottle.com to purchase a bottle for $25.

Rock n' Roll Hairstyles Part 2: The Mohawk

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:16:15 +0000

The Mohawk hairstyle has been around for centuries. Mohawk tribe warriors would cut all their hair except for a three inch strip in the middle of the head before going off to battle. In 2003 the well preserved remains of a man were found in a bog in Ireland. The corpse was over 2,000 years old. Clonycavan, as he's been named, was sporting a Mohawk styled with gel made from plant oil and pine resin, imported from France or Spain. The Mohawk was then worn by the US Army's 101st Airborne Division during World War II. The year the Army first started deploying troops by having them jump from airplanes was the same year that the 1939 Paramount movie Geronimo was released. The troops picked the unique "Geronimo!" from the movie they had recently seen to yell to prove that they were tough as they jumped from the plane. The trend grew over the years to include patches and hats featuring the Indian chief and finally during World War II the US Army's 101st Airborne Division started to paint their faces and cut their hair into Mohawks, against Army regulations. The Mohawk first appeared in rock during the early punk scene in England. In 1976 Soo Catwoman, a close friend of the band the Sex Pistols, debuted her spiked haircut onto the punk scene. It was shaved down the middle, left longer on either side and spiked to resemble cat ears. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols singled her out as having "skill, style, and bravery". She was admired by many in the scene and relentlessly imitated. Punks started to experiment with their own hair and by 1979 the Mohawk was widespread throughout the US, England, and Europe. The Mohawk was most popular in the 80s, thanks to the help of Jonny Slut, from the English goth-punk band Specimen. He grew his Mohawk out very long and teased it out into a giant deathhawk on top of his head. American Punks started to use gelatin and Aquanet to spike their hair into liberty spikes like those on the crown of the statue of liberty. By the 90s the Mohawks popularity began to wane, however, the look remained popular in some form or another with punks, goths, and hipsters. The newest innovation in the Mohawk was the fohawk. This style originated in the Hoxton neighborhood of London which is why it is also known as the Hoxton fin. This look doesn't require any shaving. The sides of the hair are cut a little shorter than the top and the hair is slicked on the sides and spiked on the top. The look was shot into the pop culture stratosphere by David Beckham and Maddox, Angelina Jolie's adopted son. Photos by LiminalMike and Od.Photography on Flickr.

Spirits Speak: New Orleans Bloody Mary

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:15:39 +0000

It’s time again for another round of cocktails. This time, we have the seemingly ubiquitous Bloody Mary on the bar. A very popular drink indeed. As we all know, success has a thousand mothers; each claiming to make the best one. The best one I have found, from the west coast to the east and the dirty coast in between, is the Bloody Mary from Finn McCool's Irish bar here in New Orleans. Research & Design: The Bloody Mary is not their only claim to fame; Finn's is also known for pulling a damn fine pint of Guinness, as the establishment is home to all of the British ex-pats in New Orleans and is owned by a few Irish folks. Primarily a green, Celtic football loving place, you won't get knocked around for showing up in a Chelsea or West Ham strip. Honest. My mixologist was Dawn and she was kind enough to share her recipe with Tango Echo and the world. Starting with ice in a stainless steel shaker, she added a shot of vodka. We went with a well shot of vodka. I belong to the vodka school that believes once you add anything other than ice to vodka, who cares what brand it is? It's been bastardized. Dawn uses homemade New Orleans style Bloody Mary mix and adds it to the shaker. Next comes a splash of grapefruit juice (who knew?), a couple of healthy shakes of Worcestershire sauce and a dab of horseradish. Since pickled green beans are used as garnish, she poured in a tincture of the juice making a dirty Bloody Mary, as it were. She thoroughly shook the concoction, expertly pouring it into a tall highball glass. After a squeeze of fresh lemon, the wedge was added to the glass. It was garnished with two pickled green beans (about 3" to 4" in length) and two skewered green olives. Then, for the piece de résistance, she pulled a wee amount of Guinness on top of the glass. Whew! Taste: Considering all of the ingredients, it was extremely well balanced in taste. In New Orleans, we like spice and then more spice. Not burn-your-mouth hot spice, but a flavorful spice. Not too tomato-y, no sour horseradish at the bottom to shoot up your straw into your mouth; just a very delicious Bloody Mary. It went down way too easily and I was left with lonely ice cubes in my glass. What a way to start the day! Until the next round, salud! Finn's Bloody Mary - 1 Jigger vodka Homemade Bloody Mary mix: tomato juice, celery salt, pepper, and Tabasco- to taste. Splash of grapefruit juice Several shakes of Worcestershire sauce A dab of horseradish A tincture of pickled green bean juice (or green olive juice) Shake well with ice Pour into a tall glass and garnish with: A squeeze of fresh lemon wedge 2 to 3 long pickled green beans 2 to 3 green olives For Finn’s final touch, float a wee pull of Guinness on the top! Photos courtesy of Erwin Schoonderwaldt, Suzanne Richards, and Barbloke.

Dispatch From The TE Labs: Paul's Giant 12 Sided Die

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:27:38 +0000

Possibly to settle a dispute about the ease with which one can install commando public sculpture in Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre's Paul Carson spent a week of free time building this giant 12 sided die. Last weekend we installed it on the vacant lot in Philadelphia where our Pink Tank resides. The TE crew has one more sculpture planned for the lot. We aim to bring some levity to the neighborhood by creating a giant nerd sculpture garden. For giant nerds. You can see more of Paul at work in his Flickr set "Big D12":http://www.flickr.com/photos/14735168@N07/sets/72157623291390302/ As always, you can see the rest of the Dispatch From the TE Labs videos here on Tango Echo, under the tag "telabs":http://www.tango-echo.com/articles/category/telabs

The Permanence of Change

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:44:24 +0000

Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre have captured the concepts of permanence and impermanence within the theme of their art. Old factories, office buildings, and theatres fill the pages of Yves and Romain’s work; however, it is the immortalization of past generations and societies that prompted these two artists to focus directly on this theme. The aesthetic care which was taken in constructing these buildings provides historical documentation of the pride felt in one’s work, while also serving as a lens that peeks into the world of past generations. _First, I'd like to start by thanking you for your time. On the homepage of your website, you make a brief commentary on the state of ruins in Detroit—that it provides a "wondering about the permanence of things." Is this something you find in all aspects of life (i.e.relationships, careers, hobbies, etc...) or just in the collective efforts of human beings trying to establish a society?_ M&M: Permanence is a human concept. We think there is no such a difference between the individual behaviour and the making of a civilization. They’re both intimately related, there is just a difference of scale. Looking at someone is looking to the whole humanity. Ruins are the end of ideas; whereas ideas are immaterial, ruins appear like the best metaphor we can not just look at, but even being physically touched and felt. But as it’s nothing of a life form, ruins could also be conserved as the ideas they materialize or reuse, unlike us, except for what we leave behind: our creations and ideas. In our human scale, buildings, the arts, history, and objects we produce are the only things which have the appearance of permanence. Looking at ruins seems to prove the opposite. _What, ultimately, do you believe leads to this impermanence of things?_ M&M: It makes us wonder about permanence, but it doesn’t mean there is no permanence. We, humans and civilization, are just small moving and impermanent pieces of a larger and permanent cycle, nature itself. Human beings—our vanity—creates the idea of permanence or at least tries to redefine permanence. By all means, we try to make permanence become our own; thus, becoming ourselves, we try to achieve immortality by creating, possessing, and consuming (like in capturing an image, for example). We are struggling against our own emptiness of being, and insecure, because all around us proves that there is moving, changing, vanishing and regenerating. _Finding beauty in destruction is a wonderful paradox offered in countless works of art. Hieronymus Bosch depicts humanity succumbing to sinful earthly pleasures in "The Garden of Earthly Delights, while W.B. Yeats states, "A terrible beauty is born" in his "Easter 1916" poem, which is a lamentation about the Easter rising in Ireland against the British. Understanding this statement to mean that a death must occur for true beauty to shine, do you find a particular sense of beauty in the death or demise of certain of eras or civilizations?_ M&M: Progress, or at least the illusion of progress, provokes demolition and destruction of beliefs, illusion. Because it’s in materialized form, we can only notice what is finished, not what is going to happen. As soon as time passes by it remains a souvenir, which is above all just an idea. It sadly underlines our inability (or impossibility?) to enjoy the absurd present—preferring to look back or hope for something to come. Ruins allow you to look at our past, present and future together: to look at our own condition. Maybe the present could truly be lived if one achieves the exact consciousness of one’s past and so on, thus one’s future. _What are the positive and negative aspects of these deaths?_ M&M: There is no good or positive aspect for which we can judge. This makes relevant the fact that not any civilization has been able to identify what’s reasonable and what’s not reasonable. And not any death would ever give us a definitive lesson on this statement. The only things that are not dying are ideas. The real death occurs when there is no way to recover these ideas. While a human being is disappearing, ideas are passing on. They are the only things that remain infinite. A lot of times, we don’t acknowledge the existence of things—appreciate them, that is— until they’re gone, and we think back about them. The only things you remember are the ideas, in which things are creating for us. This consciousness is the only valuable heritage we get. _In "The Ruins of Detroit," you comment about the city's past stating, "Nowadays, its splendid decaying monuments are no less than the Pyramids of Egypt, the Coliseum of Rome, or the Acropolis in Athens, remnants of the passing of a great civilization." While these buildings offer historical evidence of a booming city and your photojournalistic documentation immortalizes this history, what should the city do with all of these abandoned buildings?_ M&M: They should accept it for sure. Camilo Jose Vergara, whose work since the 80’s on the same subject, proposed to turn Detroit and its downtown into a museum of ruins, which it already is in fact. It’s provocative and interesting. The cities are, by definition, a perpetual evolution, which consist in not denying the past but using it. The most interesting cities build their new monuments using the remains of their past, taking into account the old adage that those who forget the past are doomed to make the same mistakes again. That’s what is happening in Detroit. People are no longer acknowledging the difference between their consumerism habits and their city, their heritage. _Understanding what marvellous buildings the theatres are, how do you feel about them being "reused as churches, retail, flea markets, bingo halls, discos, supermarkets or warehouses?" Is there a specific message you're trying to convey about society with your emphasis on theaters, considering that they are homes for art and culture?_ M&M: Indeed, theatres are the reflection of art, culture and creation. It’s an irony to see these places of fantasy and dream invaded by the most typical beliefs of our modern society. In a very general way, we think this is something primarily related to the end of innocence. The architecture of these theaters was a mosaic of different cultures and ideas. We try to accept the univited elements as part of the decor. It became a hybrid creature, a bond between our past consciences and actual condition. _Do you feel there is a specific contradiction between the mindless labor occurring in factories and the points you bring up in your statement, "During the industrial revolution, factories were built with a great aesthetic concern since they were used to promote the image of companies?"_ M&M: This statement is particularly relevant to the factories built at the beginning of the 20th Century. Factories of the modern era like those of the assembly lines in Detroit were never built with a great concern for beauty, but in a more conceptual and in a rationalized way (which most of the time have nothing to do with the reasonable way). That was one of the major changes in architecture. After thousands of years, people began to abandon the idea of expression in their monuments and houses. With the emergence of media in the 1920’s, press and radio, then television in the 1950’s, modern marketing appeared and spread out all over the word. No need anymore to make referencial and expressive buildings. The creation slides away to other domains and architecture, becoming isolated from the other arts. In the United States during the 1920’s began the very end of the demonstrative, over-referential, and humanist architecture with the good and bad aspects of these notions. To us it was really the last profusion of delusional architecture. More largely, that’s an interesting and debatable question; it raises the eternal paradox between what we consider as monuments and the ideas, system and civilization, which made them edified. They were all built with strong beliefs and confidence, always with a touch of megalomania or in a blindness spirit of devotion. France has very good examples with Versailles, all the great Renaissance castles, which demonstrate the domination of a few, and before with the great cathedrals that emphasize religious power. None of these buildings reflect a reasonable mind, same as the factories. These buildings were made by powerful forces, which do not suppress the creative aspect, and that’s what could be surprising: the reinforcing of creativity. Art and creativity are probably the most selfish expressions, as money is often required to create the pieces of art. We are coming back to vanity once again. And finally, that’s what we like: people coming to Paris to enjoy it, because all those different creative forces, good and bad, create a certain human feeling of beauty. Beauty has something related to the conscience of ourselves, so of our world. Choosing which photos to display with this article was a tough decision because there are so many more brilliant photographs in their portfolio. Check out more of their work at marchandmeffre.com