The First Facility Management Blog

SEEMS Inc., a Japanese company which focuses on fragrance and biomimetics to develop products for environmental, medical, and security applications, has developed the “Wasabi Fire Alarm”.

The pungent fragrance of Wasabi may save lives.

Actually a smoke detector, the product is designed to assist in notifying deaf people of a fire event using the pungent aroma of Wasabi–the spicy green horseradish condiment known for its ability to make eyes water. Upon detecting smoke, the unit sprays out a synthesized wasabi smell that wakes up people who might have slept through a conventional fire alarm.

Prototype of SEEMS Inc.'s Wasabi Fire Alarm

Assistant professor Makoto Imai from the Shiga University of Medical Science, who built the alarm in collaboration with SEEMS, stated the smoke detector may save lives among the hard of hearing. In studies, Imai reported that the Wasabi smoke detector was tested on 14 people, including four deaf people. Except for one person with a blocked nose, all woke up within two minutes of the smell reaching them.

The product may enter the market in Japan within two years.

Granted, there’s nothing weird about equipment that will help to save lives in a fire event, but product offerings from a Chesapeake, VA firm bring protection to the next level. Having developed fire resistant suits, blankets, ponchos, and hoods for building occupants who might need to evacuate a burning facility, The Sigmon Group is headed by a retired Navy Captain, a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander, and a retired Navy Rear Admiral. This team has used their experience in the field to develop the personal protection equipment sold under the Xscape SafeTM name.

The company Web site notes that the Xscape Safe suit has undergone testing at North Carolina State University to NFPA 2112 test at 3000 degrees Farenheit for 3-5 seconds.

If you’re intrigued, visit www.xscapesafe.com/videos/ to view a video of the testing.

Is body odor protected by freedom of religion?
Which restroom should a trans-sexual use?
May the receptionist moonlight as a stripper?
Can I wear the same outfit to work every day?
Is it still sexual harassment if I take advantage of it?

While it may surprise you to learn about some of the strangest HR questions, it won’t surprise you to find out that there’s someone making a living out of providing answers to these questions. John Putzier, M.S., SPHR, author of Weirdos in the Workplace! The New Normal…Thriving in The Age of the Individual, published by Financial Times Prentice Hall, points out, “The workplace is a microcosm of society, and as goes the world, so goes the workplace. We have moved from the Age of the Organization Man (the 50s and 60s) when people were “normal,” to the Age of Diversity (the 70s and 80s) defined by law, to the Age of the New Economy (the 90s) when new workers thought they could have it all, to the Age of the Individual (going on right now) where it’s every man (and woman) for him/herself.

Chapters in the book include:

• Walking Art
• Carpal Tunnel Crapola
• Pets are People Too
• Helen the Hypochondriac
• Long Live the Confederacy
• Feng Shui Phoebe

The book also offers tools, techniques, and organizational change ideas for organizations in search of weirdness solutions.

To order a copy of Weirdos in the Workplace, click this link.

Earlier this year (1/23/08), FacilityBlog featured a story about Dubai entrepreneur Buti Saeed Al Gandhi, who is investing $740 million in a 741 acre-988 acre reproduction of the French city of Lyon. Today’s Weird Wednesday story is about an Australian entrepreneur who is set on reproducing another great wonder of the world—Stonehenge—”because he can.”

Ross Smith, who made his fortune in the microbrewery business, plans to build the new Stonehenge near his home in Western Australia. He hopes to have the new “Henge” completed in nine months (despite the fact the original took thousands of years to build), just in time for New Age visitors to celebrate the December 21 solstice.

The $1.26 million project will include 101 granite stones arranged in an inner and outer circle and a central altar, and will span 110′. But according to Yahoo News:

Unlike the original Stonehenge near Salisbury, guests will be encouraged to touch and play around the new monument, which will also have an interpretive center and a children’s playground. Smith called The Henge “a business venture,” and will charge an entry fee and hire it out for weddings and other events.

A small team of quarry workers in Western Australia has spent the past five months drilling and blasting the stones into shape.

Comments across the Web have been critical of Smith’s decision to exploit the iconic structure for profit. Others have embraced the situation and given it a comical spin, suggesting that Smith perhaps opt to build his replica out of beer cans instead of granite.

(It’s all just so “Spinal Tap,” isn’t it?)

Three years ago, Central Park became the backdrop for an art exhibit that received much publicity and criticism. Maligned by the likes of TV personalities David Letterman and Keith Olbermann (who, according to Wikipedia, has an apartment nearby), The Gates–23 miles of orange banners–were supported by 7,500 frames of recyclable vinyl. The exhibit was on display from February 12, 2005 through February 27, 2005.

This engineering accomplishment is now the subject of a new HBO documentary entitled THE GATES. The program chronicles the 24-year efforts of the artist, Christo, and his wife Jeanne-Claude to convince city officials and civic groups to host the project, its eventual approval in 2003 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the dramatic impact the soaring saffron-colored banners had on a cold, snowy city, its residents and visitors.

One of the directors of “THE GATES,” Albert Maysles, a renowned filmmaker and cinematographer, was asked by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 1979 to film their interactions with city officials and civic groups as they tried to convince them to be host to the grand art exhibit that was still a concept. The documentary also features the reactions to the project from residents and international tourists, and the artists’ own reactions to their finished work — all set against New York City’s windy, snowy and rainy landscape.

A major requirement for the project was that the materials used be recyclable. The Gates were originally to be all steel, but that would have required digging holes into Central Park. Lighter weight and less costly vinyl frames could be anchored on metal bases on top of the ground. Vinyl’s recyclability, along with its durability and color-fastness were the principal reasons vinyl was used for the 7,500, 16-foot tall frames.

After the Gates were dismantled, the vinyl frames and nylon banners were sold to Nicos Polymers and Grinding, and shipped to the firm’s Nazareth, PA, remanufacturing facility. The frames were ground into 750,000 pounds of flake, and the regrind was sold to Plastival Inc. of Montreal for transformation to vinyl fencing and gateposts.

The documentary originally aired on Tuesday, February 26. It is scheduled for rebroadcast on Friday, March 28.

This story contrasts a FacilityBlog Weird Wednesday post about a fast food chain in China that was losing business because of its smoke free policy. In Minnesota, bar owners are going to great lengths to undermine the state’s new cigarette ban.

According to a 3/8/08 article from Ed Pilkington of The Guardian:

More than 100 bars across the state have started holding “theater nights” in which patrons are encouraged to dress up in period costume and project their voices, playbills are pinned on the walls, and bar paraphernalia makes up the props.

The bars are seeking to bypass a smoking ban introduced last October by exploiting a loophole that allows cigarettes to be puffed in theatrical productions.

The creative idea was the brainchild of Mark Benjamin, a lawyer who feels the policy infringes on the rights of citizens. (How do you like that, Poor Richard?)

Pilkington continues,

Bars have taken to calling their theater nights “Before the Ban”, which allows them to claim that their customers are in character playing themselves before the October injunction came down. Black cloth is draped over entrances, with notices saying “Stage Entrance”. And ashtrays are piled up under the label “Props”. Other bars hand out badges to anyone who donates a dollar saying “Act Now!”

Officials in the state are warning makeshift “theaters” that they are still breaking the law, an act that could cost as much as $10,000 and result in the loss of the bar’s operating license.

CAPTION: What fun this must have been: The Neverland Ranch railway station. The floral clock in front of the building is overgrown. The clock has stopped, and numbers are missing. (Photo: The Daily Mail.)

It just doesn’t get much weirder.

Michael Jackson, a man who moonwalked his way to fame and then fell in an equally dazzling fashion, has seen his beloved retreat, Neverland Ranch, decay to a sad and depressing shell of its former self. Reflecting the state of the pop icon’s career, the scene of happier times may be up for auction any day, despite protests from Jackson family members.

According to gossip Web site, TMZ.com, Jermaine Jackson claims brother Michael’s Neverland ranch will be sold “over my dead body,” even though the younger Jackson would need to come up with $24.5 million to save the 2,800 estate in Santa Barbara, California.

While the glitzy enclave once served as a happy retreat for many children (and some adults with overly developed Peter Pan complexes), the scene took on a sinister tone after Jackson’s 2005 child molestation trial. The property has been left relatively unattended ever since, as Jackson became more reclusive and found it increasing difficult to maintain the property and pay its operations staff.

According to Eric Munn of the Daily Mail, “The annual upkeep for the property was estimated to be a staggering $4 million, and during its heyday, 54 full-time paid staff manned the estate.”

All of the professional staff members have long since gone, and the park was ordered closed by authorities after insurance payments were not made. Now the site is far too much to handle for the six loyal friends and family members left with the task. Jackson himself spends most of his time as far away from Neverland as possible.

CAPTION: From thriller to dangerous: On what was the bumper car rink, the canopy is clearly ripped and discolored by the harsh Californian sun. Grass verges around the rink look bare and don’t appear to have been watered for months. (Photo: The Daily Mail.)

Jackson has agreed to refinance the property through a deal with Fortress Investment Group LLC. As for the physical upkeep of the facility and its future, those issues are still unresolved. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

I saw a post about this amazing piece of office furniture a few weeks ago, and I immediately knew I had to share it. It’s not especially practical, but it is definitely a one of a kind conversation piece…for someone who is obsessed with Star Wars and has tons of money. Hey, who wouldn’t want the “Hans Solo trapped in carbonite from The Empire Strikes Back” desk?

From the designer’s Web site:

A custom designed desk that fits a sci-fi theme. Beyond furniture… this is a one of a kind piece of functional art! Metal and fiberglass construction with a heavy glass top create an elegant and extremely unique piece!

We accept private commissions to custom create highly unique furniture, and functional art for home theaters, businesses, trade shows and more.

Based on your needs and interests, TSD can design and fabricate props, elements, furniture, creatures or characters, however large, for your business, collection, museum, mall, restaurant or bar, themed or haunted attraction or home.

The designer, Tom Spina, was approached by Mark Hall of the Grammy Award winning Christian rock group Casting Crowns. The singer asked Spina for a custom desk for his home theater and studio office, and this is what he got.

How did Spina come up with the idea? In the Replica Prop Forum, Spina writes,

I created several designs and eventually hit upon the idea of using a Han in Carbonite (derived from an old Illusive Concepts artist proof) as the top of a combination desk and art piece.

I did the initial concept and sketches and Richard [Spina's partner] handled the details, worked with the metal shop, and did the final build. Two RPF’rs [Replica Prop Forum'ers] also contributed resin detail pieces (where better to go than the RPF for the best parts around?).

The main “box” for the desk is custom metal, as are the computer cut side boxes which both light up with an orange glow. The piece is finished with a 1/2″ thick glass table top.

Many priceless works of art and culturally important artifacts were lost during World War II, but the strangest of all must be the Amber Room, an entire chamber that disappeared during those violent and chaotic years.

The Amber Room is known for its amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. The room’s construction took place between 1701 and 1709 in Prussia and remained at Charlottenburg Palace until 1716. It was then given by Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I to his ally, Tsar Peter the Great of the Russian Empire, and was installed first in the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, and then at the Catherine Palace near the city.

During World War II, the room’s curators were unable to move it to safety. They made an attempt to hide the room’s amber panels under wallpaper, but German forces recognized the well-known structure and dismantled it. The Amber Room was then brought to Konigsberg in East Prussia. The city was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1944 and was subsequently conquered by the Soviet Union.

The room, sometimes dubbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” was never recovered. Its whereabouts remain a mystery, although there are several theories. These include:

• The Amber Room was destroyed when Konigsberg Castle was burned out during the war.
• It was taken on a ship or submarine that was sunk by Soviet forces in the Baltic Sea.
• The room was hidden in a bunker in Konigsberg that is now lost.
• It was buried in mines in the Ore Mountains.

There have been some exciting developments in the search for the Amber Room. In February of this year, treasure hunters claimed they had found the room in a manmade cavern 20 meters underground near the village of Deutschneudorf on Germany’s border with the Czech Republic. For safety reasons, further exploration will not resume until late March.

In 2003, a reconstructed Amber Room was unveiled at the Catherine Palace. It was largely based on photographs of the original room.

Last Friday, FacilityBlog featured a story about running toilets. Today, toilets are in the news once again, but this time, they are the subject of a legal controversy in Italy.

Here are the facts, presented by Eileen Jeng of fNews:

Two artists, Eleonora Chiari and Sandra Goldschmied, have created a toilet that flushes to the sound of Italy’s national anthem, according to BBC News Online. The toilet was on display at the Bolzano Museum of Modern Art in Northern Italy when it was impounded by the police.

The museum is currently fighting to get the installation piece back. A museum spokesperson was quoted on artinfo.net explaining that a right-wing political party complained to local authorities about the piece. Prosecutors said that the national anthem is a “national emblem, which should be protected and should never be open to ridicule.” Perhaps their interpretation is that as the toilet flushes to the national anthem, Italy is being ridiculed. It is as if Italy is going down the drain.

The defense attorney for the museum stated to the BBC that while the national anthem “does have patriotic and sentimental value, it is not a national symbol.” Thus, the ownership of the national anthem is one of the questions for the court. The Association of Italian Modern Art Museums supported the museum and “its professional authority.” Artinfo.net described the Museum as a victim of censorship.

Please rise.

According to Christian Fraser of the BBC, a ruling on the case was expected quickly, but because of the questions of patriotism it sparked, the work was removed from the museum and the artists were under investigation.The story broke back in October 2006, but no updates on the case or a final ruling could be found after an extensive online search.

Meanwhile, the controversy has inspired Bloggers across the Internet to pose some fairly serious questions about the concept of art, symbolism, and freedom of expression. Who owns the national anthem? And is it unpatriotic to play it in a context in which it could be ridiculed? A decree issued by the former Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi defined the national anthem as an emblem and the property of the state.

While these are not directly facility management issues, they could have an impact on any building that displays a corporate art collection. Should the collection be vetted for any offensive messages? Or should art be left uncensored, to evoke response and reaction?

You may now be seated.