RIP Lucy

(click to enlarge. From WSJ.com)

This afternoon the Wall Street Journal reported that Lucy Vodden, the inspiration for Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, has passed away:

Lucy Vodden (née O’Donnell), who was the inspiration for the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” has died, following a long battle with the autoimmune disease lupus. The British housewife — whose passing was announced by the St Thomas’ Lupus Trust charity — was 46.

Vodden first achieved pop culture fame as a tot, when John Lennon’s son Julian drew a picture of her in nursery school in 1966. He took the picture home to his pops, explained it as “That’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds,” and a song legend was born.

Wake of the Flood

Yesterday's intense rains in Atlanta were the capstone to a week of flooding estimated to have caused $500 million in damages in the metro area. Please visit Hope ATL to help a cause totally focused on assisting families displaced by the storms.

McMap

(click image to enlarge and to view attribution)

Thanks to Nick on Facebook for this amazing map of the Contiguous United Sated Visualized by Distance to the Nearest McDonald's. This goes out to my significant audience of geographers!

Better Breathing in Planes

This week's Economist features an article about new technology addressing air quality in airplanes. Great news for all travelers and, supposedly, cost effective for the airlines as well.

A new development could help passengers and crew breathe more easily. This week two British firms—BAE Systems, a defence and aerospace giant, and Quest International, a small producer of equipment used to sanitise the air in hospitals and nursing homes—announced that they had successfully adapted Quest’s technology for use in aircraft. They make bold claims for AirManager, their new system. It can be fitted during a routine overnight service and uses less power than a light bulb, but is capable of zapping just about all the bacteria, viruses and other biohazards in cabin air—as well as destroying chemical contaminants and pollutants. And it also removes nasty smells.