Month: August 2015

Welding Preparations For Orion Spacecraft at Michoud Assembly Facility

The latest from NASA! http://ift.tt/1J2ePVV At NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, engineers are welding together the Orion crew module pathfinder in preparation for the welding process set to begin later this summer on the Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1. This pathfinder, including the barrel section shown here, is a full-scale version of the current spacecraft design.http://ift.tt/1HIG9Yn

Stress VS Fitness

Maria Haymandou’s latest blog post is here!

Maria Haymandou StressWhat typically comes to mind when you think of a good fitness routine?  Chances are that your list would include regular exercise, eating healthy food and maybe getting a good night’s sleep every night.  Yet there’s one thing you might be neglecting: making time to de-stress.  Almost everybody faces stress at times, yet when that stress builds up then it can be powerful enough to prevent any sort of fitness gains from happening.

The “fight or flight” response is a survival mechanism that causes the body to produce adrenaline when faced with stress.  This was once much more helpful, back in an era when stress was physical danger, although the response these days is triggered by much less-dangerous stress.  Stress from work, school or relationships can trigger adrenaline production, which is accompanied by cortisol, a hormone that causes hunger.  When stressed, your body will crave food, even though the stressful event didn’t require too much physical energy.

Stressful situations often lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed; things in life might seem too much to handle, and it’s tough to even consider doing something like going out for a quick jog.  This is why exercise and healthy eating fall of track during stressful times, as your mind and body are focused on getting through that stress.  However, some people see exercise as a way to handle stress.  While it can be a good way to keep your mind off other things going on with your life, exercise is actually just another form of stress; physical stress on your body.  While this might sound like a bad thing, it actually isn’t.  Physically stressing your body allows you to make progress; pushing further means getting better.  Yet when you’re already dealing with other stressors in life, then your body has less capacity to deal with the stress of a workout.

One of the most important techniques for de-stressing is to take a few minutes each day to relax.  While this works differently for everybody, it can include any activity that allows rest for your mind and body.  There are some great online tools to practice stress-reducing relaxation.  For example, “Calm” is a quick meditation that you can do on your computer or phone: you choose the length and style of relaxation and Calm takes care of the rest.  “Do Nothing For 2 Minutes” is another great one; a website that “forces” you to stop working.  How you spend the 2 minutes is up to you, but the idea is to take time to relax.  While stress is always going to happen, learning a few techniques to prevent stress from becoming a chronic problem is key for your mental health, as well as your body’s ability to make the fitness improvements you need.

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Top 10 Pizzas in New York

Maria Haymandou’s latest blog post

When it comes to pizza, New York is home to some of the best in the world.  Since Italian immigrants first introduced pizza to New York City in the early 20th century, it has come to embody the city just as much as the Empire State Building or Brooklyn Bridge.  Across the country, there are various types of pizza, yet all New Yorkers know that New York is the true home to pizza in the United States.  I recently came across an article that features some of the top 10 pizza joints in New York, listed below:

Maria Haymandou John's

John’s of Bleecker Street: With salty, greasy cheese and heavily charcoal-kissed dough, John’s is the quintessential New York City pizza, having captured the hearts and tastebuds of patrons since first opening in 1929.  This spot famously spurns toppings, and exclusively sells pizza by the pie.  With its faded murals and deeply worn booths that have held the butts of an unfathomable number of patrons, it feels more like a museum than a restaurant.

Maria Haymandou Don Antonio

Don Antonio: This love letter to pizza dough is the product of Robert Caporuscio and mentor Antonio Starita coming together.  While people have tried and failed to bring the montanara pizza to the public, nobody does it like Don Antonio, with a topping of smoked buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes cooked in a wood burning oven.

Maria Haymandou Motorino

Motorino: Part of the Neapolitan pizza revival of the early 2000s, this Brooklyn spot brings out well-recognized pizzas with plenty of chew and char to go around. The flavor of the crust allows the chef to play around with such out-there toppings as Brussels sprouts with pancetta and broccolini with spicy sausage and shreds of stracciatella.

Maria Haymandou Paulie Gee's

Paulie Gee’s: At this rustic parlor not too far from Transmitter Park, Neapolitan pizza gets a major remake, with mischievous ingredients and a pun-filled menu.  They even feature a brunch pizza, with gouda and Canadian bacon doused in maple syrup.

Maria Haymandou Speedy Romeo

Speedy Romeo: On the surface, Speedy Romeo feels like a clone of the well-loved Roberta’s; both serve neo-Neapolitan pizza in spaces that used to house cars.  Yet the pizzas have a particular bent, as evidenced by chef Justin Bazdarich’s use of a processed cheese called Provel that melts into a viscous cream.  While mozzarella is considered proper for pizza, Provel is definitely shaking up the game.

Maria Haymandou Roberta's

Roberta’s: Thanks to their independent spirit and creative toppings, Roberta’s has attracted plenty of hype and long waits from the likes of Bill Clinton and the crew of HBO’s Girls.  Pizzas get funky with everything; toppings, cheeses, sauces and dough.

Maria Haymandou Joe & Pat's

Joe & Pat’s: This Staten Island institution, in business for over 50 years, is known for its legendary thin crust pizza; charred, thin, sturdy and supporting a special tang.  The cheese browns evenly to create a chewy, stretchy exterior.  While there are plenty imitators across the five boroughs, nothing can quite beat Joe & Pat’s.

Maria Haymandou Best Pizza

Best Pizza: Calling yourself “best” pizza is a bold move, yet this shop certainly works to earn that moniker with expert craftsmanship and dogged individuality.

Maria Haymandou Totonno's

Totonno’s: Twice in the past five years, Totonno’s has been rebuilt; first from a 2009 fire and then from Hurricane Sandy.  Yet the 91 year-old Coney Island institution is still open, and keeps making good pizza.  With one of the most seasoned coal-fired ovens in New York, the pizzas all bear puffed, char-speckled crusts that support generous layers of sweet, herbal tomato sauce and melted fresh mozzarella.

Maria Haymandou Di Fara

Di Fara: Since 1964, Dom DeMarco has been holding court in this Midwood institution, turning out gorgeous pies that are made perfect by their imperfections.  Some folks will tell you to get there early, since you’ll otherwise end up with a two-hour wait.

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Folk City

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Maria Haymandou folk

From left to right: Bob Dylan, his girlfriend Suze Rotolo and mentor Dave Van Ronk. Dylan and Van Ronk were both major players in the folk revival of New York City.

At the Museum of the City of New York, they’re currently hosting a special exhibit: Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival, which traces the personal experiences of musicians who were writing and performing music during New York’s folk revival of the 1950s and 60s.  In addition to talking about the folk revival itself, a large part of this exhibit pays homage to New York City, and how it nourished the musical and political movement; there were record labels and venues to play, but there was also a progressive political climate, where artists believed that their songs could change society.

As rock n roll exploded in the latter half of the 60s and such genres as punk and hip hop became more vital musical forms of political expression, it can be easy to forget how radical the folk revival movement of New York was.  Some 10 years after the height of the movement, Bob Dylan reminisced about the movement in the song “Tangled Up in Blue: “there was music in the cafés at night and revolution in the air”.  The Folk City exhibit transports museum-goers back to this time, when acoustic guitars and poetry were some of the most vital and recognizable sounds in New York City.

The exhibit is a multi-media journey through the sights and sounds of New York’s folk revival.  There are also guided tours that end in a sing-along, designed to get visitors deep into the spirit of the movement.  Last week, the Museum of the City of New York presented a double bill featuring the bands Down Hill Struggles and the Four o’clock Flowers.  The former band is part of a new generation of folk musicians looking to channel the movement of the 60s, who perform both classics and their own compositions.  They released an album on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and a couple years ago appeared on Inside Llewyn Davis.

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