Tag: thinks

Categories
Entertainment

James Whiteside Thinks ‘The Legend of Zelda’ Would Make a Nice Ballet

James Whiteside Thinks ‘The Legend of Zelda’ Would Make a Great Ballet

5. Late 90s / Early Aughts Music Videos

I was born in ’84 so when 1999 rolled around I was fully the age to appreciate TRL [MTV’s Total Request Live]. I would watch TRL every day while doing homework and learning the dances – Janet Jackson, ‘N Sync, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Destiny’s Child, TLC. They spent the time and money on these music videos because they were the best marketing for their music at the time. It’s not quite the same now – I watch so many lazy music videos.

6. Video games

I find video games a real way for me to calm down. If I have time to play it means I have time, which is rare. I often play Super Smash Bros. at ABT in the lounge during my lunch break. I like video games because the structure reminds me of a classical ballet. There are many similar story elements and musical structures, and the main characters tend to be similarly heroic. “The Legend of Zelda” would be such a great ballet. It has everything you want – magic, beauty, great music.

7. Musical numbers from Hollywood’s golden age

I often go to YouTube and watch fabulous dance numbers from Old Hollywood. I love the tap number “Abraham” from “White Christmas”, where Vera-Ellen wears a yellow dress. She has another named “Mandy” who is really great. There’s one with Bob Fosse and Tommy Rall called “Alley Dance” down an alley and it’s that virtuoso kind of “I-can-do-it-better” jazz number. And “Cabaret” is exquisite, tense, perfect.

8. Gay bars

You never know what’s going to happen, and that’s a good thing. Some of my favorites are The Phoenix in the East Village; Holiday Cocktail Lounge, which is not a gay bar per se, but is frequented by gays; and Julius’ in the West Village. In the UK, The Village, GAY is fun, Heaven – these are my clubs.

9. Fire Island Pines

I went to a dance festival at the Pines for the first time in 2017 and every time I go there I meet people who are innovators in their field, free thinkers or just fascinating people with interesting stories. It reminds me of Andy Warhol and his clique – it has the element of all these creatives that come together.

10. Clothing basics

I moved to Boston when I was 18 and as a young person struggled to find a comfy look for myself. I railed against the extreme, collegiate, straightforward look the Bostonians had, so I bought all that junk from H&M and just wore ridiculous, loud, disgusting outfits. But it got to a point where I thought, “Oh my god, I’m exhausted and these clothes are all plastic.” So I turned to simpler clothes to accept that the sound was inside for me. I’m not saying that I don’t like looking noisy every now and then, but I find comfort in loose, relaxed clothing like Levi’s, Converse, Adidas Sambas, plaid LL Bean button-downs, and vintage t-shirts.

Categories
Business

New airline Avelo thinks it is the proper time to begin flying as journey picks up

New airline Avelo thinks it's the perfect time to start flying as travel picks up

Avelo plane.

Source: Avelo

With the demand for air travel growing rapidly as the US reopens from the Covid-19 pandemic, Andrew Levy believes this is the perfect time to start a new airline.

Levy is the CEO of Avelo, a low-cost airline based in Burbank, California that will fly to eleven airports and markets in the western United States in late April – where there is little direct competition.

“We see light at the end of the tunnel and it’s coming soon,” Levy told CNBC as he sat in Avelo’s office. “We’re in a great place to start and especially to be up and running for the summer high season, which should be good.”

Levy originally wanted to start Avelo a year ago, but the pandemic quickly put an end to those plans. So Levy and his team have spent the last year making sure Avelo is ready when air traffic shows signs of returning. The pandemic has cost the aviation industry more than $ 380 billion, according to the International Air Travel Association.

Avelo’s strategy is to offer cheap fares to travelers in markets or near airports with little flight service. These include places like Grand Junction, Colorado; Eugene, Ore. And Ogden, Utah. These are markets or regions where travelers typically have to take trips through major cities like Denver or Salt Lake City.

Levy sees enormous potential in exploiting the disadvantages of larger airports.

“It takes a long time to get there, there are long lines and there are a lot of headaches and problems,” he said. “Small airports are honestly just a better experience and I think all customers would agree.”

Levy knows that a small airport strategy can pay off for a start-up airline if carried out properly. In the late 1990s, he helped Allegiant Airlines launch flights from small airports like Rockford, Illinois, which are about an hour northwest of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. After helping Allegiant expand its business for several years, Levy moved to United Airlines. There he rose through the ranks and eventually became CFO before leaving in 2018.

Susan Donofrio, aerospace consultant FTI Consulting, believes Avelo can replicate Allegiant’s success.

“While the legacy airlines focus on recreational growth outside of their hubs, airlines like Avelo have left plenty of opportunities on the table to grow unchallenged in underserved markets,” said Donofrio.

Right now, Levy is focused on getting a clean start without the hiccups that often hinder startups. Avelo launches with a fleet of three Boeing 737s and plans to add three more this summer. Levy noticed that he had bought

Levy is delighted with the fact that he bought two of the planes at a discount from others in the industry to unload planes and save millions of dollars.

“The two we bought were likely a third lower (in price) than they would have been before Covid, leaving a $ 15 million discount between the two planes,” Levy said.

Categories
Health

White Home advisor Andy Slavitt thinks 89% of seniors will enroll

White House advisor Andy Slavitt thinks 89% of seniors will sign up

Andy Slavitt, White House Senior Advisor on Covid Response, predicted a growing number of Americans will continue to take the Covid vaccine based on news and evidence from trusted sources.

“In Israel, where they are a little ahead of us, 89% of seniors have chosen the vaccine,” Slavitt said. “We believe we can achieve these numbers if we continue to reliably answer people’s questions because these are very good, safe and effective vaccines.”

Around 37% of people in the US over the age of 65 have been fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the last week alone, the states fired around 17 million shots.

To further facilitate the distribution of vaccines, the Biden government announced that it will launch a nationwide vaccine availability website that will act as a link between the numerous vaccine registration websites from states, pharmacies, and other companies.

Slavitt told CNBC’s The News with Shepard Smith that “the idea would be if you put in your zip code it would show you on a map all the places near you that claim to have vaccines.” He added that streamlining the process would not only reduce widespread frustration, but also reduce vaccine hesitation.

Host Shepard Smith pressed Slavitt on his comments on vaccination records. Speaking at a press conference at the White House Monday, Slavitt said vaccination records should be free, private and secure. However, it is “not the job of the government to save this data and do so”.

Slavitt said Tuesday night that a government-run vaccination record campaign could lead some Americans to believe that the government is too involved in collecting data required for a vaccination record. This resistance is counterproductive for the entire vaccination effort.

“We believe that the public is more reluctant to get vaccinated if they feel like the government. The federal government is too big a role in this,” Slavitt said.

Categories
Business

Why Wall Road thinks flying taxis can substitute helicopters

Why Wall Street thinks flying taxis can replace helicopters

Archer Air

Source: Archer Air

Wall Street investment banker Ken Moelis said the current bull market in stocks has raised concerns about speculation with too many offers and unproven technology, but without flying taxis.

Flying taxis – formerly known as electric aircraft and urban air mobility market – are coming in the near future and can replace helicopters, Moelis and the company’s CEO and founder, Ken Moelis, told CNBC earlier this week.

“These vehicles will be 100 times quieter, significantly safer, significantly cleaner and significantly cheaper,” Moelis told CNBC’s Squawk Alley on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the electric aircraft start-up Archer announced the merger of a special purpose vehicle (SPAC) with Moelis-backed Atlas Crest Investment Corp. worth $ 3.8 billion. The start-up plans to bring out its first aircraft sometime around 2024. The deal was valued on 2026 numbers.

According to Moelis, Archer is in the early stages of development, but its business plan is fully funded and the market opportunity is significant. “There is no speculation,” he said.

While skeptics “act like vertical takeoff and landing,” this is something new and unproven, “formerly known as helicopters,” said Moelis. “We add the word electric … The technology exists. There is nothing to invent.”

A 12-rotor design also makes the flight method safer than helicopters, Moelis said.

Archer Air

Source: Archer Air

The US civil helicopter market is currently estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 aircraft. Moelis believes the market could double to up to 30,000 due to the electric aircraft replacement cycle and that batteries will continue to evolve and extend range up to 100 miles.

“Only when helicopters are replaced by electronic take-off and landing vehicles will this be a huge market,” said Moelis. “There are 15,000 helicopters now. Can you imagine a world in which you can achieve that?”

Whether Archer’s electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL), which can fly up to 100 km, reach speeds of 250 km / h and cause minimal noise, can hit the market in 2024 depends, among other things, on Federal Aviation certification Administration.

United already orders 200 eVTOL Archer aircraft valued at $ 1 billion. The Chicago-based aviation giant has invested in several strategies over the past few months to reduce its carbon footprint, including an investment in a carbon capture company owned by oil and gas company Occidental Petroleum. Urban air mobility vehicles are likely to be used initially to transport passengers to and from airports. Stellantis, the newly combined Fiat Chrysler and PSA Peugeot, is also among a growing list of Archer investors.

Key players in the auto and aviation industries, including Uber, Toyota, and Airbus, are following the flying taxi market. Uber sold its flying taxi business late last year to Archer rival Joby, in which it has already invested.

Data from Deloitte suggests that around 200 companies are working on similar aircraft for passengers or cargo. The market is projected to explore $ 4 billion by 2025 and $ 57 billion by 2035. Another study by Frost & Sullivan assumes that air taxis will fly in the sky in Dubai as early as 2022.

Categories
Business

Jay Leno reveals what he thinks is the genius behind Elon Musk, Tesla

Jay Leno reveals what he thinks is the genius behind Elon Musk, Tesla

Jay Leno said he thinks the genius of Tesla CEO Elon Musk was that “he built the infrastructure while he built the vehicle”.

“Even today, many major manufacturers build an electric car, but where do you charge it?” Leno told The News with Shepard Smith during a Friday night interview. “Elon was smart when he started, he knew this idea would work, so he built charging stations.”

Electric car maker Tesla will be the newest member of the S&P 500 on Monday.

2020 was a monster year for Tesla, the sixth largest company in the world – its inventory has grown by about 700% that year. CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage” host said he was confident Tesla could maintain its dominance in electric vehicles, adding that he had seen European electric cars fall short.

“You don’t have the range of the Tesla,” Leno said. “They’re not doing it because Tesla is leading the field. We seem to have this inferiority complex that things in Europe are somehow better than the things that were built here.”

Leno gave host Shepard Smith examples of superior American innovation, including General Motors’ Corvette, which he believes rivals the Lamborghini and Ferrari and costs just $ 60,000.

He highlighted America’s dominance in private industry and pointed to Musk’s success in the space industry.

“The fact that Elon can send a rocket into space and land it back on earth for a tenth the price of the US government?” Said Leno. “Well, that’s exactly what the private sector should do – cheaper, faster, more efficiently.”

Leno suggested that those who want to feel the “rumble of a car beneath them” should “buy another car.” He admitted that he loves Ferraris, Ford Cobra and Lamborghinis on weekends, but that sitting in traffic and driving on the spot just isn’t practical.

“When you’re in a quiet electric vehicle, you don’t pollute and save,” Leno said. “When I want to have fun, I take out my 1960 Triumph TR3 and bomb around, but in terms of everyday vehicles you can’t beat it.” [the Tesla]. “